Where I Belong
by Unseen Watcher
Summary: Ranma finds out about his true parentage one fateful birthday. Now he must search for a family he has never known, in a time long past. RK-R12 crossover fusion. A little OMG too. This is my big one. Subject to radical renovation and maddening waits.
1. Default Chapter

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
This is a Ranma ½ / Rurouni Kenshin crossover. Neither series belongs to me. Don't sue, por favor. Here it is. My masterwork (I hope). I warn you, this story is subject to radical renovation if I think of something I want to change. Don't worry, I'll finish it or my sister will kill me, and she's in medicine so it'll probably be creative AND painful. Oh, and Ranma doesn't belong to Her either. sticks out tongue and runs for life.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
------------------------  
  
The young woman sat quietly in the small room, her hands curled loosely in her lap. Kneeling before a small table, she stared at her face in a small, precious mirror. Her calm, cool expression revealed none of her inner thoughts. She sat in the humble house that had become more a home than her ancestral lands ever had. Waiting for the man she called husband to return. Knowing that soon she would have to leave him. Only now did it hit her that she might never see him again. Only then did she realize just how much she wanted to stay.  
  
She had come there at first with a mission; to unravel the great mystery of the Ishin Shishi's greatest assassin. Her purpose was to bring him down by any means possible. She had done it eagerly. She had gone, her icy rage kindled at the one who had killed her fiancé. She would do anything to make sure he paid. Bringing down the revolutionaries' plans was just a bonus.  
  
She had been sent to spy on him, by those loyal to the present regime. They met in a rain of blood, and had been together ever since. His rebel superiors, to cover his identity and take him out of notice for awhile, arranged a faux marriage. She couldn't have been more pleased if she had thought of it herself. It was the perfect opportunity to get close to him. Closer than any Shogunate agent ever had and lived to tell of it.  
  
So she had come, expecting to confront a heartless killing machine; a crude peasant who had some skill with the sword but no will outside his master's bidding. She had expected a blood- drinking savage. What she found was a boy.  
  
Every day of their acquaintance brought her more questions than answers to the riddle of the one known as the Battousai. Oh, he had well earned his reputation. The efficient way he took out the men in the alley where they met had shown her that. He could be as implacable as death and coldly detached in a way to rival her iciest moods. Then he'd turn around and play with a child, the hands that dealt death so swiftly, now gentle and kind. The golden eyes that showed no mercy suddenly a warm, understanding amethyst. It was a paradox that left her almost visibly disconcerted. Everything she learned seemed to be contradicted in the next breath.  
  
But most startling of all was the love. She had not expected him to love her. She had not known what love meant. She had cared for her fiancé, but that was her duty as his future wife. But this man loved her, even trusted her. His need to love and be loved shone out of his expressive face, though only when he thought she wasn't looking. He loved her, but she had none to give in return, her heart long buried in ice.  
  
He didn't seem to notice though. Her cold company seemed to be welcome. Either he didn't know any different, or he saw something about her that even she didn't realize.  
  
But gradually, that ice had thawed a little, allowing a sliver of warmth to enter. That warmth had caused her to agree to be with him once, as if they truly were husband and wife, before she had to leave him forever.  
  
She knew it should never have happened. It had been a mistake. And yet . . . she could not bring herself to regret it. She would face the consequences with head high and unashamed. She would take whatever punishment her superiors gave, even death.  
  
One consequence, however, she had not anticipated. She had been schooled in the duties and knowledge that a proper wife must know since girlhood. She knew the signs as well as any physician. She was with child. All the preventatives she had learned to take at her mother's knee had failed.  
  
She sat, for one of the few times in her life, at a loss. The child had little chance at a life. It was doubtful that she'd live long enough for it to be born. There was still her duty to consider; not even a child would get in the way of her honor. Not even her child, and his.  
  
She tried to look at the idea with her usual cool logic. Turning it this way and that in her mind and assessing it as she always had every situation life had thrust upon her. But her cold calculation had cracked substantially in the past few months. Everything that had been so clear, seemed less so now. Her husband was rubbing off on her. Realizing that she would give birth to a new life and be responsible for its care in several short months was entirely different from planning for it at some far off future date. What kind of mother could she be anyway? Did the little one deserve to grow up in a time of such chaos and uncertainty?  
  
These new doubts and feelings had to be hidden from her superiors when she returned to report. They would kill her without pause if they thought her a threat to the regime. But how could she conceal this? Assuming she lived long enough, it would begin to show.  
  
She had to tell her superiors herself. It would be easier than their reaction if they figured it out for themselves. She hoped. Unable to find an easy answer, she got up to tend to her chores. What should she do now?  
  
As if in answer the mirror before her suddenly glowed, casting shadows in the dimly lit room. Then a face appeared that was not her own, and her legendary iron control of her emotions wavered. The young woman who was not her reached out a hand. It passed through the surface of the glass and into the room. The rest of her followed, until the dark-haired woman found herself seated across from another young woman who seemed as alike to her as sunshine and rain. The girl smiled gently, even in the face of her icy stare.  
  
The other woman had long mouse-brown hair, held back from her face by an elaborate headband. Blue markings of some sort adorned her forehead and cheeks. She was dressed in an elaborate outfit that made her look like she had stepped out of an ancient ceremony. However, the fact that she had appeared from nowhere interested the dark-haired beauty more than her choice of wardrobe.  
  
The girl smiled, her face lighting up with the gentle kindness in her blue eyes, and the room seemed to light up with her. She exuded a serene calm, which was the only thing that prevented the dark-haired young woman from going for the dagger concealed in her kimono.  
  
She still eyed the strange newcomer warily. Her entrance had proven that she was no ordinary visitor.  
  
"Hello," the composed young woman said, floating to a kneeling position without a bump. "My name is Belldandy and I am a goddess sent to grant you a wish."  
  
The room's former solo occupant gazed coolly at her, her face once more impassive as she considered. On the surface the claim seemed absurd, easily dismissed as the deception of a spy or the raving of a madwoman.  
  
However, the entrance of this Belldandy could not be so casually set aside as Ishin Shishi trickery. The walls were still intact and did not look in the least disturbed by any forced entrance. The mirror looked fine for something that had been used as an impromptu door. Add to that the fact that the mirror was only slightly larger than her palm. No, she was not someone to dismiss something simply because she did not understand it at the moment. The best thing to do would be to play along.  
  
"Why me?" She finally said, asking the first question that popped into her head, her voice low but clearly audible. The how of it could wait till later. The fact was that this self- proclaimed goddess was here. It was her motives that were in question now.  
  
Belldandy blinked, sensing the suspicion of the extremely cold young woman before her. She continued to smile. "You fill the right criteria to be granted a wish. Few people do so. A goddess such as myself always comes personally when it happens."  
  
The other considered this, her brown eyes thoughtful. Well, if this woman wanted her to make a wish, then she would do so. Hopefully then she'd leave and allow he some solitude.  
  
What should she wish for? She considered the current state of her country. Of the war that was tearing apart her world and setting her countrymen against each other. What good could she do if she could actually wish with the power of a goddess backing it up. Lost in thought, her hand went unconsciously to rest on her still-flat belly.  
  
*I'd wish for my baby to grow up strong and proud in a time where this bloody war was nothing but a memory. * She thought, her emotions almost wistful. That would be wonderful. An impossible dream she could not long indulge in, but wonderful just the same.  
  
Her attention was brought back as her otherworldly visitor started to shine with a radiance that became blinding. Her head was thrown back as a beam of light shot from her forehead, through the ceiling, to part the clouds above for an instant.  
  
As the black-haired woman blinked spots from her vision she heard the other speak.  
  
"Wish. . .accepted."  
  
------------------------  
  
Interested? Please say yes. I know this may be glaringly obvious to most of you, but hey every story needs build-up. This one has lots. 


	2. New Beginnings

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
See previous disclaimer.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
-----------------------  
  
Ranma stared up at the night sky from his perch on the roof. I had been four months since the events on Phoenix Mountain, and in that short span of time his life had gone from weird to hellish. The failed wedding attempt and Akane's revealing to everyone that he'd said he loved her were the sparks that lit the fuse of the already explosive situation in Nerima.  
  
Ryoga had attacked him first, of course. Then came Shampoo, Kodachi, and finally Ukyo. The last had shocked him the most. She had thrown bombs at the wedding and had been just as bad as the rest of the wrecking crew. She had attacked Akane, and when Ranma had defended her, it just got him into more trouble.  
  
His other fiancée's were now mad at him, and Akane was mad because she though she could defend herself and resented his interference. She just couldn't realize the glaring fact that the vast majority of fighters in the area could take her down without breaking a sweat. Telling her so, in those exact words, had not been the brightest idea he ever had. An impromptu trip to Tomobiki was the result. After a long walk back he had been screamed at for being gone so long and accused of spending the day with one of his other fiancée's. His mouth had gotten him into more trouble from there.  
  
The problem was he couldn't remember saying he loved her. He might have thought it, desperate to get her back, but he admitted to himself that the events of that day were rather sketchy. Bits and pieces of his fight with Saffron, some blurred moments of fear that the girl he had lived with for almost a year and a half was dead, and then the trip home were all he could really grasp on to. He guessed he had still been in shock for a while after that. The wedding had brought him back from his temporary mental vacation.  
  
With the ruined ceremony over with, the old game of Who-Gets- Ranma started again, on a whole new level. Ranma felt a stab of remorse as he recalled the look on Kasumi's face a few days ago, after the latest trashing of the Dojo. The strain on her usually cheerful smile had come back to haunt him in his dreams. Kasumi, the eternally patient and accepting foundation of the Tendo household, was being stretched just a bit too thin. This time the fight had expanded to include her room, her sanctuary. With no place to retreat to gather her inner reserve, the stress was starting to wear her down.  
  
*The last few days. * Ranma sighed and shifted to a more comfortable position on the roof, drawing his knees up to his chin. The people around him had abandoned any pretense that they cared about his opinion regarding what he wanted in his life. Any half-started protests provoked beatings, accusations of dishonor, or worse, tears. The last was a tactic that never failed to break his resolve. He knew in his gut that they weren't real tears most of the time, but try telling his heart that. He had always tried just about Anything to make them stop.  
  
After a particular crying bout of Shampoo's for not trying her 'too too delicious Ramen made for Airen' he had inevitably given in and eaten it. The fact that it turned out to be drugged was lost on Akane, who had punted him into the stratosphere for flirting with Shampoo, and eating someone else's cooking when he still wouldn't eat hers. She had become very territorial lately.  
  
*Akane. * he sighed. Just when it seemed that they were starting to get along better, something happened. Since the wedding her defensiveness was worse than ever, blaming him more and more for what he had little control of and generally acting as though the whole situation was designed to annoy her. Hence his most recent little trip over the district.  
  
By a strange twist of his luck he had landed at Doctor Tofu's. Almost in the man's lap. The unruffled doc had calmly treated his bruises and Ramen-induced haze. Ranma helped him repair his roof, which gave them a chance to talk.  
  
Ranma had wanted to ask something for a while, but had always felt it was too stupid. Now, alone for once without any distractions, he decided he had little to lose and took a chance.  
  
He was helping to nail a board in (with his fist), and kept glancing nervously up at the older man. "Is there something you want to ask Ranma?" Tofu asked without turning around, making the young martial artist jump. Fidgeting nervously, Ranma finally blurted. "Um, doc. What does it feel like when you love someone?"  
  
Ever since the wedding the question had increasingly preyed on his mind. Everyone else seemed to think it was important, and he wanted to know why.  
  
At this Tofu looked up, work forgotten. He gazed off into the distance, a silly smile creeping onto his face. Ranma sweated, hoping he hadn't sent the doctor off the deep end into 'Kasumi- land.'  
  
"When you love someone." Tofu said finally. "You want to make them happy. Nothing makes you feel as good as when you see them smile. You want to be with them more than anything else in the world. Most of all you hope they feel the same." He added, sighing.  
  
Ranma frowned, trying to process this. "So you don't want them to be sad? I feel that way about all girls." He said.  
  
Tofu smiled. "I know Ranma, and that shows what a good heart you have." Ranma shifted uncomfortably at the compliment. He wasn't used to it. Anyone else he would have thought was teasing him, but he knew Tofu was sincere.  
  
The doctor smiled at the young man's squirming. He was such a naïve child in so many ways. "That's not a bad thing, Ranma. Few people have one as it is. You should be proud."  
  
Ranma looked unconvinced, but didn't comment. Tofu continued. "Love isn't just being IN love you know. There's also love for your friends, your family. People you care about."  
  
Ranma thought about it. Yea, he kind of cared about Ucchan. She was his first friend, his buddy. Though she hadn't been acting like one much lately. As for family. . . He grimaced as he thought of his old man. Definitely nothing there, though he still didn't want him hurt or nothin'. Not too badly anyway. And his mother. . .well now that he wasn't living in mortal fear of her katana things weren't bad between them. She just had a bit of an obsession with how a true man should act that still made him a bit uneasy. "Families love?" he said aloud to himself.  
  
Tofu nodded, slightly puzzled by the question. "Yes. Families are where you learn how to love." Thinking the problem was they'd never said so aloud he added. "They show you how they love you by how they relate to you. How they act toward you.  
  
Ranma mulled that over. He thought he had it. "So what you're sayin' is that whenever pop sells me for food or teaches me a dangerous technique it's because he cares?"  
  
Tofu frowned. "Well, no. . ."  
  
"How about when Akane makes me eat her food when she's never even bothered to look at the recipe and it makes me sick for a week?"  
  
Tofu winced. "Not exactly. . ."  
  
"Oh, then how about when Nabiki blackmails me into doing something or Shampoo and Ukyo fight over me and drug me and . . ."  
  
"Enough!" Dr. Tofu shouted, shocking Ranma out of his litany. The doctor gazed sternly at Ranma, looking at him carefully. Finally he shook his head. The boy wasn't being sarcastic. That was actually what he thought caring was all about. *Why shouldn't he? * he reflected sadly. *He's never known anything else. * Here before him was a young man of almost 17 years who hadn't a clue what normal family life was like. His medical instincts shuddered back from what everyday living must be like for someone who thought being used was a form of love.  
  
Looking again into Ranma's mystified face he decided on a plan of action. A crash course in real life. And he knew just how to catch his interest.  
  
"Ranma," he said, putting on his usual smile. "How would you like to go on a training trip with me?"  
  
Ranma blinked. He couldn't have heard right. "What?"  
  
"Come on." Tofu encouraged, his face practically beaming with optimism. He decided to bait the hook. "I know a few techniques that you don't know about yet."  
  
Ranma lit up. The possibility of learning new martial arts techniques immediately taking precedence over his confusion at the other's odd behavior. "Sure! When do we start?"  
  
Tofu smiled. "As soon as you've told your family that you're leaving and I've made arrangements around here, and had a talk with your teachers."  
  
Ranma's face fell. That meant the doc still wanted him to do school stuff. But it was worth it if he taught him some new things. He'd been kind of bored lately since mastering the Forbidden Techniques and his chi attack. He winced. Telling the others that he was leaving for a while wouldn't go over too well either. He'd have to make it quick.  
  
Tofu noticed the reaction and inwardly felt sympathy for what the boy was going to go through. But after standing idly by as the friendly neighborhood medic for so long, he decided that it was about time to do something. Dr. Tofu was not as oblivious as he looked. He knew just how bad things had gotten for the young martial artist, but he'd had no idea how truly ignorant Ranma was about life.  
  
That was about to change. Just a few stops and a quick call to his mother.  
  
**  
  
Ranma came out of his musing when he heard Akane calling, her voice telling him clearly just how unhappy she was at the moment. Shrugging, he jumped off the roof to grab his pack and head out.  
  
That night, Ranma made his way to the clinic. He was not in high spirits and the reason walked on the ground next to him, scowl in place. There had been an uproar when he had announced the training trip and a lot of arguing and wailing. It had finally been decided that his fiancée MUST go with him. It would give them a chance to get to know each other and be alone and blah, blah, blah. How could he concentrate with the tomboy there to slow him down and, worse, try to feed him her cooking? Akane wasn't happy about it either, but there was no budging their two fathers when they thought up one of their brilliant plans.  
  
Ranma got to the clinic and jumped off the fence. The lights were out, which was strange. Trying the door he found it locked. Turning to Akane he was just about to comment when. . . "Hello Ranma." Came Tofu's voice calmly from the shadows. Ranma jumped a few feet and landed facing him. How could he still do that? Ranma was a lot better than when they had first met, yet he still couldn't sense the guy if he wanted to go unnoticed.  
  
"Hello to you too Akane." He added, stepping out into the open. Akane bobbed in a nervous bow, her face slightly pink and her hands twisting the tie on her pack. "Are you planning to come with us?" Tofu asked politely, although it was obvious he knew the answer.  
  
"Hai, Tofu-sensei." Akane said nervously. "Our fathers' insisted-" she shot a glare in Ranma's direction "-that I go with. I won't be in the way either. I'm a martial artist too so I can help you train."  
  
Before Ranma could do more than open his mouth for the inevitable comeback Dr. Tofu held up his hand, causing the teenager to reluctantly subside.  
  
"I am quite aware of that Akane. However, this is special training designed specifically for one person. I'm afraid I can't allow another to come. It would defeat the purpose of the training and might even endanger it. I cannot agree to another student at this time, not even you Akane."  
  
"But our fathers . . ." Akane tried weakly, shocked at this seeming rejection from the man she admired so much.  
  
"When I became your family's doctor it was agreed that I would be allowed to do what I believed was best for my patients. When I became Ranma's, that applied to him as well. Saotome-san signed the papers himself. Please deliver my regrets to the two of them when you see them upon your return home."  
  
Every word was conveyed in a polite, but firm way. There was no room for argument and no way to object short of being unpardonably rude. Akane wanted to argue but this was the one man she never wanted to be rude to. She found herself bowing in agreement and hurrying off, flustered.  
  
Ranma stared after her in amazement, jaw dropped. He turned to Tofu. "That was incredible. How'd you do that?" He demanded.  
  
Dr. Tofu smiled and turned. "You'll see soon enough." He said before disappearing into the night. Hesitating only a moment, Ranma followed.  
  
--------------------------  
  
Well? I chose Dr. Tofu over my original idea of a reality talk with Nabiki because it sounded more interesting and the good Doctor is one of the few adults that aren't trying to use him in some way. Maybe the only one. I like the 'more than what they seem' themes. 


	3. Resolutions

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi? Right? Rurouni Kenshin belongs to . . .Agh! Someone just Told me! Where's that paper? Um, I think the last name begins with a W. Anyway, neither are mine. Kinda like to mess with it though.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
--------------------------  
  
Several months passed, and the tension in Nerima rose to critical. Where was Ranma? Not even wily Cologne could find out. She had check with Tofu's mother once only to find Ranma and his new sensei had already departed for parts unknown.  
  
Nabiki wasn't having any better luck. No one matching Ranma's description had been spotted by any of her contacts in Japan. No one had heard anything.  
  
Then one day she got up and there was Ranma at the breakfast table, being served by a beaming Kasumi.  
  
Nabiki was not a morning person, so her tact level was kind of low. "Where the hell have you been Saotome?" She asked bluntly, more than a little grouchy.  
  
"Lots of places." Ranma answered, grinning. His eyebrows lifted. "Don't tell me the all-knowing Nabiki couldn't find me.  
  
Nabiki glared at him. She thought of retorting but decided to get her revenge more subtly. It would be much more satisfying that way.  
  
Then their fathers got up and the uproar really started.  
  
"How could you do this to your old father boy?" Genma demanded. He struck a pose. "Oh, the hardships I have to endure in having such an ungrateful son." Crocodile tears streamed from his eyes.  
  
Soun was outdoing him in the water works category. "Son, how could you? Leaving your fiancée like that! Poor Akane has been devastated by your unfaithfulness!"  
  
Ranma frowned, but didn't say anything. He studied the two wailing men like a weird circus exhibit. Noticing the strange silence, Nabiki took note and decided to watch him carefully.  
  
"I was NOT!" A voice yelled. Akane had returned from her morning jog and looked outraged by the accusation. "What do I care if that jerk falls off the face of the earth. He can leave forever for all I care!"  
  
"Now Akane. . ." her father started to wheedle. The argument continued from there, all this time Ranma hadn't said a word, though it was obvious he was holding himself back a few times.  
  
Trying to pry some information out of him, Nabiki said casually. "So Ranma, what new skills did you learn?" That stopped the argument immediately and all eyes turned to the young martial artist. Ranma was always eager to show off what he knew.  
  
Ranma shrugged. "Not much really. He made me study most of the time."  
  
"What? Come on boy their must have been some new technique you've mastered. Show us!" Genma ordered.  
  
Ranma looked at him, that strange expression still on his face. "I could show you how to apply antiseptic right." He finally offered.  
  
They all stared at him in disbelief. That was it? They'd been ready for him to return with yet another amazing technique and he was talking medicine?  
  
All but one anyway. "Oh, please do Ranma. I've been a bit behind in my studies lately." Kasumi said enthusiastically. She sat down and the two of them started talking, seemingly oblivious to the circle of wide-eyed faces.  
  
Things went from there. Ranma got back into school and while his teachers were thrilled by the sudden normal attention of one of their worst students, the other class members were sweating in their seats, wondering if the world was finally ending. Hanako-sensei even awarded him one of her lollipops for being so good. He gave it back to her as a gesture of respect, earning a happy squeal and a hug from the currently little girl. Surrounding classmates gave them a wide birth, some openly praying.  
  
That week he got glomped by Shampoo, attention from Ukyo, and unfortunately some from Kodachi. He exchanged insults with Kuno at the gate as he always did, before sending him to the infirmary.  
  
Everything seemed back to normal, save for his new attention to schoolwork. He started insulting his father back again and getting malleted by Akane for cooking comments. All was, so to speak, well.  
  
The only difference were Ranma's occasional odd silences when things got really out of hand.  
  
At the end of the week, Ranma was up on the roof again. He was ready. He had done what Tofu-sensei had challenged him to do. Now he had a decision to make.  
  
"Ranma, I know most of this training hasn't made much sense to you, but there's one task left I want you to do before I consider it complete." "Hai, Sensei." Ranma said. He had discovered that he couldn't hurry his strange instructor, so he had to learn a little patience as a necessity. "We'll be returning to Nerima soon." He smiled as Ranma shifted in his seat at the news "When we get back there I want you to take a week and observe the people around you. Not as one of them, but as an outsider might see them. As the people we've met would look at them." Ranma's eyes narrowed in thought and he nodded. Seeing his agreement the doctor continued. "Then I want you to sit and think for as long as necessary where you see your life is going, and what you want to change. Then use that amazing strategic mind I've come to know and figure out a way to do it. Then." He paused, then barked. "DO IT!" Ranma straightened. He had learned that tone from the thankfully few times the not so harmless doctor had used it. He promised to do it.  
  
He had promised. He'd had no idea then just how hard the seemingly simple task would be. When he had gotten back to the place he called home, he'd been astonished by how alien it had seemed. All the arguments, situations, and idiosyncrasies of the Nerima way of life seemed so strange now, when before he had just accepted them as normal.  
  
In his travels with Dr. Tofu he had gone to many different places. Dr. Tofu was more often like a tour guide than a physical trainer, pointing out a place's history and even insisting he learn about the culture and the language. Ranma should have been bored out of his mind with all the studying, but the doc always seemed to know how to make it fun and apply it to his martial arts training. 'This place had been a battlefield where they used this type of fighting.' 'Learning the language of your opponent makes sure he doesn't have that advantage.' 'If you learn how to treat your injuries you can not be out of the fight as long.' 'Knowing how you body works leads to true mastery of it.' Then there was that strange time when they had visited Tofu's various relatives. Aside from his mother's strange hip fetish, they were all remarkably . . . friendly. The doctor would still spar with him, but most of the time he'd just sit with his hosts and talk about old times and what this person or other was doing. He'd even had an argument with one of his sisters. Not a punch was thrown and the idea of resolving a disagreement without violence had left Ranma confused for days afterward.  
  
They had visited all sorts of people. From an ancient ninja clan that seemed to know and welcome Tofu on sight, to a small group of fisherman that had been isolated from the modern world for centuries. Then there were the places. The most disturbing ones had been the battlefields. There was always a fight going on somewhere and the doctor seemed to home in on them. Ranma found out he usually did things like this on his vacations! The doctor would bandage the wounded and Ranma would carry the medical supplies. All the time Dr. Tofu talked. He'd never seemed to stop except in their occasional training exercises. Ranma did learn a few techniques. Mostly stealth to get across a battlefield without getting shot, or Shiatsu points to lessen the pain of the wounded. He learned a lot about Shiatsu points. He probably knew almost as much as the old ghoul herself now.  
  
Then he had returned to Nerima, eager to get back to reality. Only reality was not as he remembered it.  
  
It seemed so petty now, after all he'd seen. An endless kid fight over one person where no one was giving an inch because they saw it as their right to have him. He had been appalled when he realized that even his best friend would take advantage of their talks to strengthen her claim on him.  
  
He had seen his present life clearly for the first time. Now what, as Tofu-sensei would say, was he going to do about it?  
  
He had never really thought much about the future. Everyone else always seemed to do it for him. He had resented it, but he had no other plans himself so he hadn't really put much energy in his objections.  
  
He sat and thought. He thought until the sky darkened and the calls to him to come for dinner then bed went unheeded. The more he thought about it, the angrier and resentful he became. He knew objecting wouldn't work. They'd just ignore him or trick him or even drug him to get what they wanted. How could he get control of a life that was becoming abundantly clear did not belong to him?  
  
He finally went to bed, his questions unanswered.  
  
***  
  
That night he dreamed of his fight with Saffron, as he had many times in the past months. Once again he was fighting for his life against one considered to be a demi-god. However, this time he realized that the Phoenix king wasn't his only opponent. Time itself seemed to work against him. How much of it did he have left? With his attention divided as he struggled to keep the fighting away from his friends and family and reach the spring in time to revive Akane he felt stretched in three different directions.  
  
The physical pain of his injuries he suppressed automatically, but his emotions continued to pop up like bubbles, muddling his concentration. Too many life or death concerns that needed to be handled all at once. Too much stress and lack of sleep leading to this moment. His hard-learned control of his emotions during a fight was starting to slip.  
  
He had never faced such an opponent, one that was bent on the utter destruction of both him, and the people he cared for. One he knew would not back down, short of death. His emotions roiled like the power of the aura surrounding him.  
  
Concern, determination, anger, panic, and the fear of not making it in time washed over the confidence he had always displayed in combat. This was no fistfight, no simple test of skill and strength. This was all or nothing mortal combat. The realization was clouding his judgement, making him second-guess his own moves. He took several more hits and grimly realized that before he took out his main opponent he had to take a few precious seconds to defeat a tougher one; himself.  
  
He was acting like a kid who hadn't learned how to focus yet.  
  
Bringing his full attention back to Saffron, he launched another attack, exchanging blows and energy blasts. He could not afford to pull his punches. Too much was at stake. This man-bird was not like his other rivals; continually defeated and occasionally showing up to harass him. This was a real battle what both were determined to keep up until the other fell. The Phoenix would never quit seeking his life as long as there was breath in his body. Normally when someone swore revenge on him, he'd tell them to bring it on. But another life was at stake, the life of the girl that Ranma still hadn't sorted out his feelings about. More importantly, the life of a friend. He needed to finish this fight, but he might have to kill the Phoenix king in order to defeat him.  
  
That, Ranma realized, was the problem.  
  
All his life he'd been taught that a martial artist protects. He does not kill. He had made that ideal an integral part of the honor that he had clung to throughout his life and his association with his father, one of the most dishonorable men alive. His honor was one of the few things he considered truly his in his chaotic existence, and he would sooner die than surrender it.  
  
But here he was in what looked like a lose-lose situation. It was either Akane or Saffron. A now helpless girl or the creature that sought to destroy them all. If he won, Saffron would die, and so would a precious part of his own soul. However, if he allowed Saffron to win, then they all lost. They would all die under the claws of the Phoenix-god.  
  
Ranma didn't like making tough decisions. He preferred to be easy-going and let things come at him at his own pace. But he was cornered with no way out. There was no one else to take the responsibility this time. The choice, and its consequences, was his.  
  
Trapped in a terrible moral dilemma, he did what he always had; he let his personal code choose for him, and unhesitantly followed where it took him. It didn't take long to decide.  
  
Having made his decision, he acted. Taking all the inhibiting emotions, he exerted his remarkable control in battle to shove them into a temporary mental corner. He would have to deal with them later, but for now he had other concerns.  
  
Now, without anxiety or guilt blocking his battle senses he viewed his opponent calmly, his expression hardening into a mask as sudden anger welled up in his throat. However, this felt completely different from the hot rage he usually experienced. This anger was as cold and unforgiving as the depths of space. Had he the energy to spare in contemplation, he would have been amazed by how easily it came to him.  
  
With the icy fury taking over, he looked at Saffron and saw, not an unbeatable fire-god, but an annoying obstacle that stood between him and his goal. Another hurdle he'd have to overcome that fate had thrown in his way.  
  
Without any doubts to hold him back, completely focused on going Through Saffron if necessary, he redoubled his attacks. . .  
  
**  
  
Ranma woke up, sweating as he stared at the dark ceiling of his room. He glanced at the clock, noting that it was several hours until morning. Wide-awake, he continued to stare upward, his gaze unfocused as he went over his dream.  
  
His memory was coming back.  
  
Dr. Tofu had assured him that the battle shock would eventually wear off and that his memories would return. He'd been glad to hear it. He hated not remembering his own actions, one of the main reasons he so despised the Neko-ken. Always striving for perfect control of his body and mind, he detested every time it slipped from his grasp. He was secretly afraid that it was only a matter of time before his body did something horrible while his mind was out to lunch.  
  
He wanted, Needed control. Control of his actions. Control of his life. His life, curse it. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, a half-healed bruise from one of Akane's little tantrums an aching reminder that others thought he had little say in the matter when it came to what he wanted.  
  
He hadn't fought this hard against the odds for so long, just to give up now. Silently, he thanked Dr. Tofu for helping his perspective. He wasn't exactly sure what life Should be like, but his definitely wasn't it.  
  
Tomorrow he would start to take control of his life.  
  
After breakfast, he added, his stomach complaining about the missed dinner.  
  
------------------  
  
I'm not stretching here, am I? Anyway, I'm sorry for the Akane- bashing. I'm just so stinkin' TIRED of all the idiotic things anime girls do and assume. I'm sure I'll get over it. . .eventually. 


	4. Uncertain Strategy

Where I Belong By The Unseen Watcher  
  
Rurouni Kenshin/ Ranma ½ crossover. See previous disclaimers.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
-----------------------  
  
Ranma groaned softly, messaging a sore shoulder.  
  
Things were not going as he had hoped. His father had awakened him as usual by tossing him into the koi pond. Now Ranma had long ago reached a level where it was very hard to surprise him, even in sleep. Nabiki hadn't realized yet why so many photo opportunities were spoiled by his turning away at just the right moment.  
  
However, with the lack of sleep and food and the inward focus on his problem he hadn't sensed another's approach until she found herself spitting out water.  
  
Automatically losing her temper she had attacked, recklessly. She won, but had a lot of humiliating blows get in before she managed to lay the old man out.  
  
Because of the drawn-out battle she missed breakfast, only adding to her ill humor. A hungry Ranma is a cranky Ranma. She only had time to use a ready kettle before Akane dragged him out the door by the pigtail.  
  
The day had progressed normally from there. As normal as his day could be called.  
  
Now he sat under his favorite bridge, scowling in thought as new bruises smarted. What was supposed to be a whole new beginning for him was turning into another bad rerun. At least he'd gotten lunch, courtesy of Ukyo. Now that he had a moment to himself, he just sat still in an effort to try to figure out what he was doing wrong. He was just about to give up on the still unfamiliar exercise when a snippet of his dream flashed across his mind.  
  
Now it generally takes a while for new ideas not obviously related to martial arts to fully sink in to his subconscious mind, so Ranma can be forgiven for not grasping the incredibly obvious right away. So much of his attention was focused on fighting that anything else tended to get lost in the background. The concept that he could be wrong in a situation was still new and a difficult lesson to swallow. His trip with Dr. Tofu had begun to chip away at the thick wall between him and reality. Humility was one word he'd never heard of.  
  
"No control." He mumbled in stunned realization. Since the day started he had fallen back on old habits of reacting before thinking and brushing off the blame. He had, it suddenly struck him, almost no control over his pride. It was just another thing determined to control him.  
  
Ranma sighed, leaning back against the cool underside of the bridge. Okay, he knew part of the problem now, but how the hell was he supposed to solve it? A martial artist was supposed to be in control of himself at all times, and while the advice had come from a greedy, cowardly baka of a panda, it seemed to ring true.  
  
But how to start? He needed to find a technique to control his arrogance, something that seemed ridiculous just thinking about it. He was the best wasn't he? Why try to hide it?  
  
He shook his head at his own ego. There was no help for it. Only the most rigorous, painful training would help him here. Now what could he do?  
  
An idea came to him and he grimaced.  
  
Maybe this wasn't worth it after all.  
  
**  
  
Ryoga walked through the streets, trying not to show his bewilderment.  
  
"Where on Earth am I now?!" he demanded, drawing several strange looks from passersby who hurried away from the crazy boy.  
  
"Curse you Ranma, this is all your fault!!"  
  
"How is your lousy sense of direction my fault?" A voice said directly behind the lost boy, causing him to jump and spin around searching frantically for the voice's owner. Unfortunately, he spun a bit too far and ended up facing his original position.  
  
"RANMA! I know it's you. Come out and show yourself, you coward!" Ryoga cried, looking around wildly. A tap on his shoulder sent him spinning around again. It would have probably continued for some time if a firm hand hadn't stopped him mid- whirl and made him turn to face the right way, almost nose to nose with a sardonically smiling Ranma.  
  
"There you are! Ranma, prepare to. . ." The rest of his trademark phrase was cut off rather abruptly when the red- shirted boy punched him in the gut, hard.  
  
The breath whooshed out of Ryoga's lungs in a rush. He landed with a thump on his rear and just sat there while he got his breath back, too stunned to be angry yet. When had Ranma gotten so strong? His punches had never hurt that much. Ryoga's own rock-hard body had always protected him against a direct assault. He sat there, gasping like a landed fish, staring up at the other boy with wide eyes. The idea that Ranma could have been holding back all those times had not yet seeped in.  
  
"Finished for now?" Ranma asked sarcastically, then mentally kicked himself for sliding into jerk-mode as the other's eyes darkened in anger. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Nevermind, just. . .forget I said that ok?"  
  
At the other's suspicious look he only shrugged, crossing his arms in front of him. "Look, man. I was kind of looking for you anyway. I, well, actually got somethin' important to say."  
  
Ranma drew in a deep breath, feeling a bit shaky for some reason. He hadn't realized just how hard this was when he had reluctantly decided on this plan. Figuring that thinking about it more might make him reconsider, he blurted.  
  
"Look, man. . .I just wanted to say that. . .that I'm sorry. About everything." He mentally cursed his stuttering and vague speech. He sounded like a complete weirdo.  
  
Ryoga just looked up at him, uncomprehending.  
  
"I mean. . ." Ranma tried to clarify, determined to see this through now that he'd started. "I'm sorry for all the stuff I've pulled on you. The bread, makin' fun of ya, and most of all Jusenkyo."  
  
He paused for breath, and managed to force out through stiff lips. "You're right, I can't imagine what you've been through and what you go through every day. But really you get yourself in trouble most of the time by not listening and taking advantage with your other form and. . ."  
  
Ranma clapped a hand over his mouth, forcibly stopping the defensive words. When he thought it safe to trust himself he lowered it and opened his mouth. Shut it. Then he finally seemed to give up and said honestly "I really am sorry Ryoga. I know that don't mean much but that's really all I can do now."  
  
Exhaling loudly in relief that it was over, Ranma turned and hurried off.  
  
He had already turned a corner when the Lost Boy's brain function returned, bringing the rest of his breath back with it.  
  
Confused and angry about the fact that it seemed to be harder at that precise moment to find something to be angry about, he decided to go after the source of yet another problem and ran after the retreating pig-tailed martial artist.  
  
He turned a corner and did what he does best. Got completely lost.  
  
** Ranma ran over the rooftops of Nerima, his steps oddly light. It had been an excruciating ordeal, but now that it was over he felt as though he'd just dropped a heavy load he hadn't known he was carrying.  
  
He'd apologized and for the most part kept his cool. He felt like he'd paid off his debt to Nabiki. Frowning at the thought, he pushed it aside for now. One thing at a time.  
  
But he could do this. He had done it. He just had to keep control of his reactions. Treat everything like a kind of battle and he'd be fine. It should be easy from here. He just had to learn to keep his cool.  
  
All the time.  
  
**  
  
His newfound resolve was put to the test that very night. Akane was in one of her 'domestic' moods. Which meant that she was determined to shove a concoction that would make a vulture retch down his throat. Sitting at the table with an all too familiar sense of impending doom, he fought for control of his emotions. When she firmly set a huge platter of something that looked like someone had already tried to eat it and failed in front of him, his mind started to work overtime trying to get him out of this mess. Or better yet, away from the mess.  
  
He didn't realize that he'd been staring at the . . . experiment for several minutes (he could have sworn he saw it twitch) until Akane cut into his thoughts with an impatient "WELL?! Try it already!"  
  
Ranma looked up at the scowl on her face and the angry red aura forming around her. Looking around, he saw no support. Not that he expected it. Everyone seemed extremely intent on their own meals. He kept his mouth resolutely clamped shut, because if he opened it just then he knew he would say something that would get him malleted. Or worse, some of the stuff might get in somehow.  
  
*Soul of Ice, Soul of Ice . . . * he found himself chanting. It was as good a strategy as any. It should work. You didn't get much cooler than the Ice Soul. He focused on it now so desperately his vision was edged in an azure haze.  
  
A cold blue aura appeared around him, expanding until he was vaguely surprised that Genma didn't get frostbite sitting next to him. His doubts and misgivings momentarily shelved, he looked up at Akane, and risked opening his mouth. He had to respond soon or get creamed.  
  
"You first." His voice said, in a tone Azusa could have skated on. The part of his mind not submerged in ice boggled at what was coming out of his mouth. Did He just say that?  
  
Akane's expression, meanwhile, had turned from rage to surprise. Regaining some of her lost defensiveness at the unexpected reply, she frowned. "Ranma, I made this dish especially for you. Now eat it before I get MAD." She looked about ready to pull out her mallet.  
  
Ranma smiled. It was a chilling smile that didn't reach his eyes, which had gone flat. What to say? Well, it worked on him. He wasn't the only one with an ego.  
  
Still smiling, he met her eyes squarely and said with a completely straight face the only thing he could think of.  
  
"I dare you to."  
  
Akane blinked, not sure she had heard correctly. "What's the matter?" asked the person who had taken the stupid macho jerk's place "You're not AFRAID, are ya?" His smile widened until it was officially a smirk. There was a clear challenge in his eyes.  
  
Akane snapped out of her daze, her ready temper rising at the questioning of her courage. How DARE he imply that she was afraid?! She wasn't scared of anything and she'd prove it!  
  
"I'll show you who's a coward Ranma!" she said aloud, scooping up a large chunk of the dish with her chopsticks and putting it in her mouth. She started to chew, a determined look on her face. Her resolve began to falter as the taste hit her tongue and the lump hit her stomach. She started to turn a rather sickly shade of green, stood up and frantically bolted for the bathroom.  
  
"I don't think she's feelin' too well." Ranma remarked calmly as she disappeared, trailing smoke. "Maybe it was something she ate." With that, he started on Kasumi's offering, his expression serene, but his eyes were thoughtful. Everyone was staring at him in shock. Genma unconsciously edged away from him and made only a few attempts to steal his son's food. After his efforts were repeatedly blocked with only that disconcerting icy stare as a silent threat from the warrior he gave up and slumped over his food, sulking. Normally, he would have berated the boy for holding out on his father, but his well-honed survival instincts warned him to let it pass this time.  
  
Something had gotten into the usually hotheaded boy tonight, and he definitely didn't want to get on its bad side. Soun was too surprised to tear up. Nabiki had a puzzled look in her eyes as she kept glancing at him. Kasumi's expression was oddly unreadable.  
  
**  
  
The next few weeks continued mainly along those lines. Ranma would be forced into one of those situations that usually left him flustered or reckless. True, he had to stop himself several times from reacting as per norm, but he gradually started to slide more easily into what Nabiki had dubbed his 'Cold Front.'  
  
In fact, he seemed to get icier with time. He kept on constant alert, stretching his danger sense to its limits. His awareness radius gradually began to expand with the constant practice. He could now feel trouble as far away as five blocks.  
  
When Kuno challenged him at the school gates, his strategy was as unexpected as it was effective. He would continue walking, casually dodge any bokken swipes, and then slug him, once, usually in the stomach. Ranma would then continue to school as if nothing had happened, often without saying a word, ignoring the upperclassman's wheezed insults.  
  
I was becoming easier. He didn't even have to actively scan for danger. He did in automatically now. He could now feel Shampoo coming long before her bike came into sight. Therefore, he easily avoided being flattened under her tires, as was the tradition. This had often resulted in a very confused and very wet Shampoo, since she usually tried to land on him while he was walking the fence bordering the canal. Needless to say, Ranma got out of there fast, before the girl-turned-cat could dredge herself out of the water.  
  
He still had his curse. No attitude change could help that. He was still a water magnet. But he refused to let Anything make him lose his cool, so he learned to just shrug and calmly go looking for hot water.  
  
When Ryoga inevitably arrived to challenge him, the match was fought in silence. On Ranma's end anyway. He attacked with an almost bored look on his face, and gave only a mirthless smile in answer to the other's insults. The Lost Boy, still confused after their last confrontation, keep losing his focus whenever he happened to glance at the cold eyes of his opponent. The match didn't take long.  
  
Everyone was wondering just what had happened to Ranma. Accusations of black magic were flung at the Amazons, who defended themselves by accusing the 'Violent Pervert Girl' of abusing him past the point of sanity.  
  
Akane, the aforementioned Pervert Girl, responded by getting mad at everyone in general. She couldn't even take it out on Ranma because he had become rather scarce lately when she was around. He seemed to know when she was going to enter a room, and made sure he wasn't in it when she got there.  
  
When Cologne tried to coax an explanation out of him, all she got was a cold smile and some 'advice' that he wouldn't look too favorably on Shampoo's claim if she tried to force the issue. She had left the interview more puzzled and slightly troubled than when she'd arrived.  
  
Even Ukyo couldn't get anything out of him. He'd just change the subject or leave if pressed, and few could keep up with Ranma when he decided to become scarce.  
  
The Wrecking Crew weren't the only ones to notice the 'new' Ranma. Several of his teachers had quiet nervous breakdowns with the constant unblinking icy stare boring into their backs as if he could pull their words out by force. More than one of them began to seriously reconsider their career choice.  
  
The students kept their distance too. Even Daisuke and Ichiro couldn't get up the nerve to approach him. He spent his lunches with a rather large empty space around him. The fact that he seemed to openly enjoy the silence unnerved them even more.  
  
In sheer desperation his rather pummeled father dragged him to Dr. Tofu's (he hadn't even come close to winning a match against Ranma lately. Few lasted more than five minutes). Genma didn't believe that a true martial artist had need of the babying of frequent trips to the doctor, but his nerves had started to fray. Every insult that had always sent the boy into a foaming rage now seemed to make his demeanor calmer and more frigid. His smile would only widen at each verbal volley, as if he was enjoying some private joke at Genma's expense. The sparring usually got rather painful after that.  
  
Dr. Tofu checked Ranma over and then went into the waiting room to tell the gathered group that there was nothing wrong with Ranma physically. "It's probably just a phase he's going through." He told the anxious crowd soothingly. "Just give him some time and he'll get over it. All I can advise is that you leave him alone for awhile and he should be fine soon."  
  
As the relieved group departed, Dr. Tofu went back into the examination room. Closing the door behind him, he gazed at the person standing calmly in the center of the floor. "Are you sure this is such a good idea Ranma?" He asked quietly.  
  
Ranma nodded, meeting the eyes of the older man gravely. "It's got to be done doc. I'm not sure just how it's going to get me to my goal, but until then I think it's their turn to feel insecure."  
  
Dr. Tofu looked at the young man before him, meeting his determined blue gaze with his own far older one.  
  
"Just don't let it go too far. It can easily control you instead of the other way around. Be careful." He instructed quietly.  
  
Ranma nodded. "I will."  
  
**  
  
So it continued. Word got out to leave Ranma alone and everyone was more than happy to comply. Some feared that he might completely snap if they weren't careful. Even the usual random challengers couldn't get close to him. Any who had not taken or heard the general advise were quickly taken care of by Ranma's fiancée's before they got within a block of him. NOTHING must disturb the apparently unstable martial artist.  
  
Through it all Ranma moved calmly, caring less and less about reactions but remaining acutely aware of events around him. He kept his ears open and his mouth shut. There was the occasional wry thought that he was turning into Nabiki, only without any overt profit motive.  
  
In fact his emotions had reached such a level of indifference that something bad was bound to happen to rudely snap him back to reality.  
  
He had taken to sitting up on the house roof more lately. He seemed to consider it his domain and anyone who invaded it was beaten up or ignored. Even Kodachi thought twice about jumping him there. The last time she'd tried it he had casually tossed her own paralysis roses back at her without even bothering to turn around. The subsequent visit to the much use koi pond had her limping away in confusion.  
  
Akane was the only stubborn holdout. On this day she was determined to go up there. It was Her family's roof, wasn't it? What right had that baka jerk to claim it?  
  
Kasumi was doing laundry outside and thus had a good view when it happened. Akane had propped a ladder against the house and climbed it to the part of the roof a few feet from Ranma's position. She had only taken a few firm steps on the slippery tiles when she lost her footing. The old Ranma would have jumped up to save her. The old Ranma would have been warning her not to do it in the first place. The old Ranma would have caught her, been the one to take the brunt of the impact, and gotten pummeled for grabbing her. The old Ranma wasn't there.  
  
Instead, as her arms windmilled in a futile effort to regain her balance and she let out a shout of surprise before falling off the roof, the new Ranma didn't even turn around. Akane knew how to fall, but her foot got caught briefly in the ladder and so she didn't have time to land right. She landed on her arm.  
  
In the subsequent uproar the rest of the household, Soun in the lead, raced out of the house to find a sobbing Akane cradling her broken arm. The overprotective father took one look and began to wail louder than she was. In tears, he demanded to know why Ranma hadn't saved his little girl, to which the accused only shrugged and replied "she's always babbling that she's a martial artist. A martial artist knows how to land."  
  
Soun almost went into full demon head mode at that, but at a gentle touch on his arm by his eldest daughter and her reminder that taking care of Akane's injury was the important thing at the moment, he seemed to calm down for a moment. Then he turned to his youngest and burst into fresh tears.  
  
Kasumi said little after that, but a small frown briefly marred her cheerful expression. It had been doing that a lot lately.  
  
That night Akane returned home from Dr. Tofu's with a cast that extended form wrist to elbow. Subdued, she studiously avoided Ranma, who in turn acted as though nothing had happened. Preparing to go to bed, he walked up the stairs, passing Kasumi on his way down the hall.  
  
He stopped, surprised, when he felt a gentle hand on his arm. Turning with a question on his lips, he was totally unprepared for the slap that hit him full across his face, whipping his head to the side with surprising force.  
  
Shock showing plainly on his face, he turned to look in astonishment at the gentle girl he often believed shooed flies out of the house rather than swat them.  
  
Kasumi's face was composed, but there was an almost stern look in her eyes, like that of a mother determined to give an errant child a good talking to. Taking his limp hand in hers, she led him into his room.  
  
Sinking gracefully to the floor, she gestured for him to take a seat facing her. He sat down cautiously, eyeing her warily like a placid pet gone rabid while absently noting that his position placed him in the exact center of the room. The proverbial hot seat.  
  
"Ranma-kun." She said quietly, beginning. "I couldn't help but notice that you've changed lately." Ranma shifted slightly in his seat. She continued "I have not said anything because I trusted in your good heart to see you through, as it always has. But today . . ." She paused. "Today I saw someone in trouble. Saw they needed help. And you didn't care."  
  
"You have always cared Ranma-kun. It is the quality I have admired the most about you. How you could still keep your good heart throughout everything that has happened."  
  
"These past few weeks I have watched that wonderful heart vanish, buried under a wall of ice. Now this. Ranma, where did you go? Please don't run away like this. There has to be a better solution to your problems. You are only hurting yourself and the people around you this way. Please. . ." To his horror there were actual tears in her eyes. "Please come back."  
  
Getting up, she carefully wiped the moisture from her eyes. Giving him one last look, she quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
Ranma sat there, stunned. He'd had no defense. He hadn't senses her mood in the hall because he had expected it to be as vacantly happy as it always was. He hadn't expected the soft words. He Really hadn't expected the slap. Now Kasumi, of all people, had made it clear that she was disappointed in him. He had made Kasumi cry.  
  
If someone else had done that, he would have flattened him. Instead, he had no one to beat on but himself.  
  
Pulling his knees to his chest, he huddled in silent shame.  
  
**  
  
Sitting on the roof later that night, he tried to sort it all out.  
  
The technique was flawed. As he had done with all the other skills he had sought to master he had tried to learn it too quickly, oblivious to any consequences. He had tried to shove himself into a mold that was not who he really was. Rather than shaping the technique, modifying it to his purposes, it had shaped him. He shivered slightly as he realized how close he had come to becoming as lost mentally as a Kuno. An imperfect shell of a martial artist that could never grow stronger because his own unbalanced soul held him back.  
  
Control was good, but he had taken it to a level where it had overridden his code of protecting others. It had slowly dampened the rest of his personality until all that remained was a guy even more self-absorbed than before. The ice was a trap, lulling him to sleep until he froze to death. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had fallen in completely. Right then, he didn't want to know.  
  
It took the simple truth from a girl that could qualify as an angel to point out the obvious. A girl, he mused, that was not as oblivious as she seemed. *She's got Tofu-sensei spellbound, and he's one of the sharpest people I've ever known. He's seen from the start what the rest of us didn't even consider. *  
  
The ice had grown thick, but it had its weak points. The attack from an angle he'd never have dreamed a strike would come from had shattered it into a million pieces. All that was left was a few stubborn clinging shards. He'd just have to deal with them himself. He managed a weak smile. He had learned more in three minutes than in years of training with the old man. Her remarks about running away had struck particularly hard. He tried so much to be the complete opposite of his old man, and had ended up imitating him anyway. He had once vowed never to run away like his sorry excuse for a father, and he wasn't about to start now.  
  
He shivered again, the cool night breeze not the cause. The truly scary thing was how easy it had seemed. As though distancing himself from those around him here was necessary. The people seemed less real by the day, dimming like a picture in a history book.  
  
A chill swept up his spine, and he shivered again. All his senses were telling him that something was about to happen. Something big. He had to move quickly to recover and be ready for whatever came.  
  
**  
  
The next few days were better ones. Ranma remembered to smile more often, the warmth gradually beginning to creep back into his soul. Before long, he was joking again, to the immense relief of those around him.  
  
To their delight, he paid more attention to the girls in his life, and actually didn't seem to mind them fighting over him. Only Ukyo felt the distance he was gradually putting between himself and those around him. It was different from his former coldness, almost polite. Nevertheless, it was there just the same. Keeping her worries to herself, all she could do was watch carefully.  
  
***  
  
Ranma was on the roof again. He'd had an argument with Akane and gotten punched through the ceiling. So, since he was already up there, he decided to stay for a while. Akane's arm was still healing, so her swing hadn't have as much of her body behind it as normal. In the year and a half he'd lived in Nerima a startling amount of it had been spent flying over it, so he was as good judge of how much strength she put behind a punch.  
  
He smiled to himself at the thought, then frowned slightly. A year and a half? Had it been such a short time? He felt like he'd been there most of his life. Something else occurred to him, and he started to count slowly on his fingers (still not stellar at math). adding up the months.  
  
Yup, he was right. His 17th birthday was coming up soon. He wondered if the next year would be as chaotic as the previous one.  
  
In retrospect, it was a silly question to ask in Nerima.  
  
******  
  
Seventeen. Her son would soon be 17 years old. Nodoka sighed, continuing to sift through the boxes in the old storage chest. She had known this day would come. She just hadn't wanted to think about it. Almost, she gave into the temptation to forget about it, as she had tried for almost 17 years now. But honor won out and she continued her search until she found the small box she was looking for. Smoothing the dust from the lid, she opened it and rifled through the few contents, finding an old photograph at the bottom. Holding it gently in her fingertips, she gazed at the two faded figures there, and her resolve strengthened even as her heart broke.  
  
She had a promise to keep, to an old friend.  
  
---------------------  
  
Trite? Cliché? Maybe, but everyone always says that and soon the cliches aren't used anymore. They become cliches because they were Good! I Like cliches! Oh, and if you notice some weird time clashes with the original story, that's ok. No one seems to age at a normal rate in any of these things anyway, so I decided not to worry too much. P.s. Is That enough chapters in a row for you? I've really been working on this story for quite a while you know. 


	5. Birthday Hijinks

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
Tell you what. YOU think of a disclaimer and mentally place it here.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
-----------------  
  
Ranma woke the morning of his 17th birthday feeling oddly bemused. It was still early, but he really didn't feel like sleeping in. He'd recently had that option for the first time in his life when Genma had finally decided that health considerations outweighed the need to keep his son alert. Ranma was too alert as is was, to his taste. They didn't even share the same room anymore after Ranma had ever so politely informed him of the change. A few dunkings in the pond and some rather graphic threats later, the elder Saotome announced that he missed sleeping under the stars. It got rather funny on rainy nights.  
  
Ranma padded silently out to the porch, where he noticed the still snoring form of his father. He grinned wickedly at this turn of events. Payback time.  
  
Genma soon found himself breathing water in the koi pond where the fish had long since gotten used to sudden explosions. Now the old panda wasn't the most perceptive man in the world when it came to reality, (he wasn't even in the top 5 billionth) but he had a fine-tuned danger sense that had been honed through an apprenticeship under Happosai. One even the old freak respected. Not to mention all the thieving he'd done throughout the years.  
  
Even so, it seemed to have done him little good now as he emerged from the pond one very confused panda.  
  
"Growf Grr Grow?" He whipped out his sign. How did you do that boy?!  
  
Ranma grinned evilly, mischief dancing in his gray-blue eyes as he waggled his finger in admonishment. "Now if I told you that it wouldn't be a secret." He replied. Turning, Ranma skipped into the house, not even bothering to spar.  
  
Genma stared after him. *Maybe the boy has finally lost it. * He thought. Somehow a clever, grinning Ranma was almost as disturbing as the cold one had been. A Ranma not interested in fighting caused his little panda brain to temporarily overload. The fish quickly got out of the way as his round head hit the surface as he passed out.  
  
Ranma ate breakfast at his usual pace, which meant that there wasn't even enough left to make decent crumbs by the time Genma- panda recovered and hauled himself into the house.  
  
While his father looked mournfully at his empty plate, Ranma gathered up the used dishes.  
  
"What are you doing Ranma?" Nabiki asked, puzzled. She had given up on trying to predict what he'd do next and had settled for being suspicious of everything.  
  
Flashing her a cheery smile, he replied "Doing the dishes" before easily moving off to the kitchen with the precarious looking stack not even swaying. All present at the breakfast table stared after him. Nabiki had to consciously remember to close her mouth. RANMA was volunteering to help out around the house. Mr. Manly Man himself.  
  
From the kitchen, they heard the call of "Hey Kasumi, let me do that today!" Kasumi came out of the kitchen, a pleased smile on her face. At everyone's questioning looks she explained "Ranma- kun offered to do all my chores for the day!" Everyone else face-faulted.  
  
From his position on the floor, Genma-panda whipped out his sign. Martians. My son has been abducted by Martians.  
  
**  
  
Nabiki and Akane walked to school. Ranma didn't exactly walk. When he wasn't jumping around, he was doing handsprings, and even a few somersaults on the fence. The two sisters continually sweatdropped at the looks they were getting from passersby.  
  
"Stop that!" Akane finally snapped, feeling deeply embarrassed. She was blushing furiously, ducking her head in the hopes that no one would recognize her. Next thing you knew the crazy baka would start singing!  
  
On cue, Ranma began a rousing chorus of 'We Will Rock You.'  
  
**  
  
Ranma couldn't explain it. He felt like he was bursting with energy. All the little problems that had been holding him down and crushing him under their combined weight, suddenly seemed so hilarious. Like it was all some massive joke and he'd finally gotten the punch line.  
  
When the old Ladle Lady splashed him, she laughed so hard she nearly fell off the fence, startling the old woman. Not pausing in her dance, she took out a ready thermos from mid-air. Things had gotten a lot easier since he'd learned a bit of the Hidden Weapons technique from, surprisingly enough, Dr. Tofu. The rest came from observing Mousse.  
  
By this time, Akane and even Nabiki firmly believed that he'd either gone completely Kodachi or was on drugs. Knowing Ranma's fiancée problems, either was quite possible.  
  
As he skipped merrily up to the school gate Kuno appeared, as usual. "Halt, thou foul being of darkness! Surrender your claims on the tigress Tendo Akane and the mysterious pig-tailed girl or face the wrath of Kuno Tatewaki, Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!!" Lightning flashed, but no one bothered to look up.  
  
Ranma, hands in pockets, just stood there looking more than a little bored. "Wow, Kuno. You said all that in one sentence."  
  
"SILENCE FIEND!!" Kuno roared, "answer my challenge now or suffer the consequences of your insolence! Wilt thou concede to my demands?!"  
  
Ranma paused, tilting his head slightly as if in consideration. At length he shrugged, the strange bemused smile finding its way back to his face.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Kuno blinked. "What?" He said, his voice actually normal as he sputtered and gawked at the other boy.  
  
Akane was gaping as well, too stunned to be angry yet.  
  
Ranma continued. "Akane's all yours Kuno, but it'll be harder to win over the pig-tailed girl. She's kind of shy. If I were you, I'd show her your true devotion to the ones you love by showering Akane with attention first. If you're convincing, it's sure to get her attention.  
  
Kuno had recovered slightly, his corkscrew logic already working on this new development. Nodding slowly at what was now his former rival's suggestions; his face looked as thoughtful as it could manage.  
  
"For once the . . . the warrior Saotome speaks truth. Tendo Akane, I shall prove to you the depths of my love, and in doing so win my other love as well!"  
  
With that Kuno charged off, intent on making Akane's life hell. Akane came out of her stupor, and started glowing red with rage.  
  
"Ranmaaa!!" She growled, turning only to see him slipping quickly into the school.  
  
Akane charged into the classroom, ready to punch him into next week.  
  
However, her battle aura abruptly winked out when she saw Hinako- sensei at the front of the room. She had forgotten that the Psycho Sensei was teaching first period today. From the knowing grin on his face as he sat properly at his desk, Ranma had not.  
  
"Miss Tendo, you are late." Hinako-sensei said, frowning cutely. Akane looked properly penitent, though she was having trouble keeping her fury off her face. Quickly collecting the buckets, she stomped out into the hallway, casting one last glare that promised immense pain later Ranma's way.  
  
Had she looked back again, she would have been surprised to note the wistful look that shone briefly in his eyes as he gazed after her.  
  
**  
  
Kuno made several attempts throughout the day to 'woo' Akane. He threw truckloads of flowers her way, reciting sonnets about her beauty and power. He 'drew her into his embrace', declaring that she was now free to admit her absolute love for him.  
  
Akane bashed him into orbit each time. Often through the walls of the school. By this time Nerima residents were long used to avoiding falling debris and martial artists, so they barely noticed the extra ventilation.  
  
Kuno would return, slightly more bandaged each time, but undaunted. Sasuke was dragooned into wheeling him around in a cart.  
  
It was only halfway through school, and Akane was stomping down the halls in an absolute rage, causing plaster to crack with the force of her steps. The hallways were deserted long before she came in sight, so the walls suffered more of her frustrations.  
  
"THE SECOND RANMA STEPS OUT FOR LUNCH, HE'S DEAD!" She shouted.  
  
Marching out to the schoolyard she looked around, eyes narrowed and only one thought on her mind. She found her target sitting in his usual spot under a tree, eating lunch. Ukyo sat attentively beside him, her presence causing Akane's vision to darken further.  
  
Meanwhile, Ukyo was watching as Ranma downed the food she had brought for him, he expression pleased. Ranma was paying attention to her again, and the news was all over the school that he had broken up with Akane. Life was good. She had never seen Ranchan look so happy. She chattered excitedly to him, though it was a mostly one way conversation because his mouth was full.  
  
Suddenly Ukyo felt a chill, and looked up to meet Akane's blazing glare. Akane stormed over to them, the other students giving her plenty of room. Her fists were twitching, an angry crimson aura glowing around her.  
  
Ukyo quickly got to her feet, moving into a protective position before the seemingly oblivious Ranma. She stood on guard, her large spatula leveled in front of her. Akane tried to go through her, swinging at the barrier between her and revenge. Ukyo blocked the blow, her face determined though she was privately impressed by the strength behind it as her arm went slightly numb. Akane was forced to stop and the two exchanged glares. Ukyo was preparing to go on the offensive when a voice behind her stopped her.  
  
"Don't bother, Ucchan." Ranma said calmly, brushing the remains of lunch off his shirt. Standing up, he moved forward, his expression matching his voice. Ukyo stood uncertainly aside as he moved past her. Ranma smiled slightly, the motion not reaching his eyes. "Hiya Akane. What can I do for ya?" he asked, his arms casually crossed over his chest.  
  
By this time they had the attention of the entire schoolyard, which was now waiting breathlessly for what would happen next. Several of them winced at Ranma's words. They would get a rather painful response for sure.  
  
Akane glared at him fists clenching as her temper rose another notch. "Don't 'hi' ME, you perverted JERK! What do you have to say for yourself?! How DARE you do that to me! In front of the whole school no less!" She shouted, her aura flaring as her voice rose. "You've had this coming for a while, you jerk! She yelled, and swung at him, the force of her entire body behind the blow.  
  
The crowd tensed, waiting for the usual connection of Akane's fist to Ranma's face.  
  
But Ranma wasn't there.  
  
The momentum of her own punch sent the shorthaired girl spinning, until she landed with a loud .thump! on the ground, her eyes swirling. While everyone gawked, she snapped out of it, gaping into space in her surprise. She'd missed! She'd never missed him before! Looking wildly around, she finally spotted him standing in the exact same spot, his relaxed stance unchanged. Her eyes narrowed and her aura sprang back to life. He was making fun of her!  
  
"I'll teach you to make fun of me, Ranma!" She shouted, standing up and barreling forward. This time Ranma didn't even bother to move aside. He stood there, his feet planted. She aimed for his face, trying for surprise. She might as well have been going in slow motion. His head wasn't there when her punch plowed through the air where it had been, ruffling his hair with the wind of its passage.  
  
Akane froze for a second in confusion, shocked for a moment out of her anger as she realized how effortlessly he had dodged her. His head was cocked to the side; his expression unchanged. Furious, she launched another attack.  
  
Punching wildly, she became increasingly frustrated. He dodged every one of them, the growing look of boredom in his eyes only incensing her more, and her pace increased. She started to strike at random parts of his body, trying to at least make him move from the spot. But he just twisted around them, one leg always supporting his position.  
  
After some time Akane began to slow. Even the heat of her anger was not enough to sustain overexerted muscles. Eventually her arms dropped to her sides, dead weight. She stood panting, her entire body aching. Unable to do anything but look at Ranma, she did her best to melt him with her gaze.  
  
Ranma stood there, looking unfazed by events. He hadn't even broken a sweat, his arms folded the whole time.  
  
"Are you finished, Akane?" he asked. Before she could draw enough breath for a retort he continued. "Now, lets go over what you did wrong. You put too much power behind each blow. You used up all your energy that way. You also got a lot sloppier rather than better. You need to concentrate more. Most of all, you allowed your temper to blind you to your opponent. That kind of mistake can get ya killed in a real fight." He smiled suddenly, lightening the serious atmosphere. "Practice will help you to improve. You're welcome to try again any time. Just remember what I said." He turned to leave, his hands now in his pockets.  
  
Akane had stood there like a deer in the headlights throughout the entire lecture. Ranma was actually Critiquing her fighting style! Shock turned quickly to anger. She suddenly felt all the stares directed their way. She was insulted and humiliated, and reacted the only way she knew how. Her arms useless, she swung a kick at him.  
  
Ranma shifted to the side, catching her foot in an arm lock. All she could do was wobble frantically on one leg in an effort to keep her balance.  
  
"Oh, and by the way." Ranma said, his voice casual. All attention immediately focused on him. "I kinda made a little decision. I still don't hit girls, but I'll no longer let them him Me either. If you manage to tag me, it'll be cause ya earned it. Otherwise, happy landings."  
  
He twisted her leg slightly, not enough to be painful but sufficiently to disrupt her precarious balance and send her once again sprawling on her rear. He let go of her leg, and walked back to the school, his hands in his pockets. He was given even more room than Akane had been. Ukyo let out the breath she had been holding, watching the retreating figure of her oldest friend.  
  
As the martial artist disappeared completely from view the spell of silence was broken, and the school grounds erupted with noise, the students all wondering aloud about this recent development. Ranma was acting strangely again, doing almost the unthinkable. Nabiki stood in their midst, a speculative look on her face. Things were about to get interesting again.  
  
Only she and Ukyo noticed Akane get up and walk off in a daze.  
  
***  
  
That night the whole Nerima gang was at the Tendo Dojo, with the unsurprising exception of Ryoga. They were all gathered for Ranma's birthday. The party was in full swing, and the guest of honor was, as usual, largely forgotten as the guests squabbled together over who should get his attention.  
  
Ranma ignored them all for the most part, dodging the occasional swing, glomp, or thrown object. He was looking around, the sixth and even seventh senses he'd developed to survive in Nerima were tingling like mad. He rubbed the hairs on the back of his neck in an effort to muffle it. Something was up. The tension that had been growing for months was finally coming to a head. Whatever it was, was about to happen.  
  
He waited expectantly, tamping down on the strange sense of excitement he felt. He couldn't get his hopes up. Nothing good had ever come of these kinds of things. Not for him, anyway.  
  
Kasumi heard someone call politely from the gate, and she went out to greet the next visitor. Her pleased exclamation of surprise caught Ranma's attention immediately, his head snapping around and his eyes alight.  
  
Kasumi walked in, escorting a familiar figure. Mrs. Saotome stood in the entryway, her katana in its usual bundle at her back. In her hands, she held what looked like a shoebox-sized container that was tightly wrapped in white cloth. She held it carefully, as if it were fragile and might break.  
  
The party had barely paused at her entrance, and was soon back into full swing. Genma moved to the opposite end of the room, keeping well clear of his wife and her weapon.  
  
The sounds, for Ranma, all faded into the background as his eyes remained fastened on the form of his mother. This was it. He could feel it in his gut, and the anticipation was threatening to eat him alive. However, Nodoka made no effort to talk with him after her expected greeting. In fact, she seemed to be studiously avoiding looking in his direction. The tension was now like an unseen wall, blocking out his awareness of all but the two of them.  
  
After what seemed like hours, they got from the party to the presents. Ranma breezed through them, thanking the givers and putting the more dangerous ones aside.  
  
Then his mother stepped forward, and called for everyone's attention. When the room quieted somewhat, she said. "I have a present for Ranma as well, and an announcement to make."  
  
Murmurs started throughout the crowd. Now even they couldn't help but feel it too. All eyes glanced between Ranma and his mother.  
  
Nodoka gently picked up the package, which she had placed in her lap. She rose, gliding toward Ranma, her expression solemn. Her every movement had an air of ritual, and the crowd respectfully parted, giving her a clear aisle to her son.  
  
Ranma stood at alert, his fists unconsciously clenching. His entire attention was on the woman coming inexorably closer. After a small eternity, Nodoka stopped in front of him. Her arms stretched out as she offered him the bundle, his own rising of their own will to accept it.  
  
------------------  
  
More Akane bashing. Can't be helped for now. Don't worry, I won't completely disparage her. She just needs to grow up a little. Of course, so does he. We'll see! Sorry about neglecting my other stories. I've been in another slump. I hope you'll bear with me.^_^ Oh, and since Anime characters don't seem to age much, I finally gave up and made it his 17th year. Old enough to be considered near adulthood, but young enough to need family around him. Of course, he sort of got the short end of the stick on that growing up, so he has some catching up to do. Aaand, I found out that most Japanese don't really celebrate birthdays. They mostly consider themselves a year older on the New Year and exchange presents. shrugs Oh, well. It supports the plot. 


	6. Revelations and Flashbacks

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
Rurouni Kenshin and Ranma ½ not mine. Belong to Takahashi-san and Watsuki- san. Story idea original. I wouldn't mind seeing variations though. I always like to see 'could be's', although I admit that 'What If's' are usually depressing and to be avoided like the flu. Hope you like it so far.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
------------------------  
  
Ranma shifted uneasily in his kneeling position, looking at the walls and ceiling of his room. His mother had insisted that they go there to talk; alone. She had told the others that she would make her announcement after having a word with her son.  
  
She had wanted privacy, which wouldn't have meant much if Nodoka hadn't also politely asked Kasumi to redirect people from the stairs. Still, Ranma knew that wouldn't stop the more determined martial artists from scaling the side of the house to listen in at the window. He knew them well. Therefore, he kept his senses alert to that possibility. Whatever his mother had to say, he wanted to keep it private for as long as possible. He knew down to his bones that something momentous was about to happen.  
  
Ranma shifted most of his attention back to his mother, who was now kneeling across from him, her kimono modestly tucked around her. The pose was uncomfortably like the one Kasumi had taken not that long ago, when She'd wanted her own little talk with him. He felt cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.  
  
*  
  
Nodoka looked at her son, and saw she had his attention. "Ranma, will you please open the package now." Her voice didn't quite make it sound like an order, but it was close enough. Her face was set, revealing none of her thoughts. The fact that she had referred to it as a package and not a present didn't escape him.  
  
*  
  
Gingerly, Ranma pulled the tight cloth aside, revealing a small wooden box, plain and unadorned. It had a small bronze latch, but showed no evidence of being locked. Flicking up the catch, he carefully raised the lid.  
  
Inside was a small stack of neatly folded papers. Puzzled, he picked up the top one, holding it nearer the light. It was brown, and crackled with age. Turning it in his fingers, he noted some writing on the back. It was written in elegant Kanji in a handwriting he didn't recognize. The characters read simply 'My Son'. The folds of it were sealed together with wax.  
  
Now more curious than wary, he took out another letter. This was also sealed. Written on it in the same graceful script were the words 'My Husband'.  
  
Ranma looked up at his mother, unable to hide his incomprehension. What was this all about?  
  
In answer, his mother reached into the lining of her obi, and withdrew a letter that was a match for the first two. However, unlike the others, this one had obviously been opened. She turned it, and he caught a brief glimpse of the characters 'My Friend'.  
  
*  
  
Nodoka took a deep breath. There was no turning back now. "Ranma." She said, breaking the awkward silence "many years ago I was charged by a dear friend of mine to give these letters to you on the day of your 17th birthday." She paused, gathering strength. "Along with this." She withdrew a slightly faded photograph from her kimono, handing it reverently over to the at-sea young martial artist. Ranma took the photo carefully, sensing how much his mother cared for it. Looking at it, he beheld two women, standing side by side in a pose for the camera. One was obviously a younger version of his mother. She had changed little, her young eyes appearing bright and innocent as she smiled out at him from the scene.  
  
The other figure was that of a woman he didn't recognize. Long, feathery ebony hair framed an oval face, her most prominent feature being her deep cinnamon-brown eyes. They held a lot more of the weight of experience than the woman beside her. Ranma found himself drawn to that face. It held a sorrow that he emphasized with all too keenly. His heart went out to the young woman. Her pain was an aching echo of his own.  
  
Forcing himself to tear his eyes from that face, he examined the rest of the setting. The two appeared to be in a small garden, around Fall if the leafless tree in the background was any indication. They both wore formal kimonos. His mother's was colorful, while her friend's was a less decorative darker color he couldn't make out, with the shapes of small white flowers visible if he strained to make out detail.  
  
The photo only showed the women from the torso up, but it was plain to anyone that the unknown woman was heavily pregnant.  
  
Ranma finally looked up, catching his mother's scrutinizing gaze. Nodoka looked almost anxious, leaning forward slightly. Noticing that his attention was again on her, she straightened, hands folded in her lap. She seemed to be waiting for him to speak. Ranma searched for words, and finally asked what he thought was the right question.  
  
"Who is she, mom?" He asked, unable to resist looking at the tantalizing picture again, so he missed his mother's twitch.  
  
"What do you think of her, Ranma?" She asked instead of answering, twisting her fingers slowly. Ranma's eyebrows lowered in thought, looking between her and the photograph. How to put this into words?  
  
"She's very pretty." He finally managed. "There's something in the way she stands that shows pride, but her eyes show she's also really sad." He shook his head, unable to sort out his mixed feelings. "She seems familiar, as if I should know her. But I can't place her. Did I meet her when I was little?" He asked.  
  
Nodoka smiled, the expression flitting briefly over her face before it was gone, replaced by the regret in her eyes. "Yes, once, for a very short time." She whispered. She looked up and met his eyes, her own shimmering with moisture.  
  
"She's your mother."  
  
***  
  
Ranma blinked, staring at the woman across from him. He couldn't think, couldn't even begin to try to examine what she had just said. His mind seemed to be caught in a loop of shock, disbelief, and denial. She couldn't have possibly said what his ears firmly told him she had. There was no way. So, while his brain called his ears liars and his wits scrambled to get back from the places they'd scattered, he could only stare at her, his eyes wide and mouth partly open.  
  
*  
  
Nodoka's fingers tightened around each other, but she willed herself not to drop her gaze. That would have showed a lack of resolve to the course she had now firmly set her feet upon with just three words.  
  
"Ranma?" She said, noticing his preoccupied look. When he didn't respond she said his name louder, unable to keep the slight snap out of her voice. This was difficult enough without him paying attention. She refused to do this twice. His gaze focused, but his eyes were still wide, viewing her as if she was a strange, exotic plant that he was unsure wouldn't bite him if he wasn't careful.  
  
"Ranma." She repeated firmly. "Are you listening to me?"  
  
Ranma nodded, his powers of speech momentarily gone. Nodoka sighed, wishing that this day was over with. Gathering her thoughts the best she could, she began.  
  
*****  
  
She had been a young bride, still recently married. She spent most of her time alone at their home, waiting for her husband to return from his martial arts training. His . . . interesting . . . master had taken him and his fellow trainee Tendo-san on yet another trip. There was no way to know when he would return. Young Genma Saotome could be gone for months at a time, following a training regimen that he never discussed with his new wife. She assumed that it was far too secret for such as her to know. She was so proud to be married to such a manly man.  
  
However, pride in her husband's imagined accomplishments could not stave off the loneliness that came at times. All alone in their house, which had been paid for by her parents, she sought to pass the time with kendo practice. He husband scorned weapons, but she had discovered a sense of calm and peace in continuing her family's sword style tradition.  
  
Finishing her kata, she cleaned herself up and decided to go to the market to pick up a few items for dinner. Walking through her gate, she chanced to glimpse the form of a young woman about her own age stepping out of a nearby apartment complex. Young Nodoka's breath caught as she noted the classic beauty in the features of the other. Long, silky black hair framed a perfect oval face. The way she held herself, so calm and collected, was truly befitting a proper Japanese woman.  
  
Nodoka was something of a fanatic for tradition. The proper roles of men and women in society were one of her blooming obsessions. This woman seemed to be the personification of those values. Hastily, she made sure she looked proper, then formally introduced herself. The other woman, though distant, seemed to approve of her manners. She was invited inside for tea, Nodoka took the opportunity to welcome her to the neighborhood.  
  
*  
  
Over the next several months, Nodoka was able to establish a friendship of sorts with her quiet neighbor. They would sit together over tea, quite often going through the entire formal ceremony. Nodoka loved to do it and her new friend seemed to expect it as a matter of course. Nodoka told her of her family situation, but spoke little of her own family and past, stating only that a matter of honor kept her away from her family and husband for the time being.  
  
Nodoka was curious, but kept her questions to herself. It became harder, however, when the other's kimono could no longer hide the fact that she was very pregnant. Her friend was Very formal, adhering to tradition even more than Nodoka was able to. She'd been surprised to learn that Nodoka practiced kendo, but seemed to accept in her friend what was an unusual practice for a woman. She stated that it was good to be able to defend herself and her family.  
  
Although unfailingly proper, there were still a few things about her neighbor that Nodoka found peculiar. For instance, once she invited her friend over for dinner, and the other had insisted on helping her prepare the meal. Nodoka had stepped out of the kitchen to retrieve something. When she came back, she had discovered her guest, her well-shaped eyebrows lowered in frustration, trying to use the water taps on the sink. Quickly concealing her surprise, she had politely shown how they worked.  
  
Microwaves, too, seemed to be an unknown, and Nodoka had once had to quickly intercept her from putting a can of soup in it. Her friend would listen closely to her explanations of how things worked, nodding. Nodoka wasn't sure if she really understood what she was saying. The woman's face seemed to be set in a permanent expression of cool indifference toward the world around her. Only her eyes gave her interest away, but only on occasion.  
  
**  
  
When the time finally came for her friend to give birth, she would not hear of going to a hospital. She had managed, with some confusion Nodoka knew, to call Nodoka on the phone in the middle of the night.  
  
Nodoka entered the little apartment her friend kept herself sequestered in most of the time. She again noted how sparse and uninviting it seemed; like it was no home at all, but only a temporary stop.  
  
Having been taught properly by her mother, Nodoka had helped her friend through the long hours of labor as best she could. Luckily, there were no complications and a tired Nodoka eventually held a healthy dark-haired baby boy in her arms. Cleaning them both up, she laid the baby into his mother's arms.  
  
As her friend looked at her new son, a rare smile touched her lips, reaching even her eyes. The true warmth enhanced her beauty, even worn out from the labor as she was. Nodoka stayed with them for a few days to help out, before returning to her own home.  
  
That night, she stared wistfully out at the sky, the longing to have her own little one rising up as a dull ache in her chest. With he husband gone so much and as time passed, so did her hopes of ever being a mother.  
  
**  
  
The next day she gathered together a food bundle to take next door. Stepping outside, she nearly tripped over a small basket set on her porch. Laying aside her package, she bent over the object, moving the cloth wrapping to reveal the small baby sleeping within. Her breath caught in wonder and then fear as she recognized him as her friend's new little son.  
  
Gathering him carefully into her arms, she was about to go and quickly check on her friend, fearing for her condition, when a packet of letters fell out of the loosened blanket, landing at her feet. Leaning over with the child held carefully against her, she picked it up.  
  
There were three letters, all sealed. One was addressed to her. A fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach, Nodoka broke that one open and read.  
  
TO MY DEAREST FRIEND,  
  
I WISH TO EXPRESS IN WRITING WHAT I COULD NOT TELL YOU IN PERSON. ARIGATO GOZEIMASHITA AND THE KINDNESS YOU HAVE SHOWN A COMPLETE STRANGER. I HAVE COME TO ADMIRE YOUR STRENGTH OF CHARACTER AND STRONG VALUES IN THE SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME WE HAVE HAD TOGETHER.  
  
I NOW MUST ASK YOU A GREAT FAVOR. DUE TO A BLOOD FEUD AND OTHER EVENTS I HAVE BEEN ASKED NOT TO RELATE, IT IS DOUBTFUL THAT MY SON WOULD LIVE LONG WERE I TO TAKE HIM HOME AT THIS TIME. I ASK THAT YOU WOULD PLEASE CARE FOR HIM.  
  
SHOULD ANYTHING HAPPEN TO ME, I HAVE BEEN PROMISED THAT HE WILL BE DELIVERED TO HIS FATHER ON HIS 17TH BIRTHDAY. I KNOW YOU AND KNOW THAT YOU WILL RAISE HIM PROPERLY TO BE A TRUE MAN. I KNOW OF YOUR DESIRE FOR A FAMILY AND WOULD BE HONORED IF YOU WOULD CONSIDER HIM AS YOUR OWN.  
  
Nodoka's hand began to shake as she read on.  
  
I HAVE NOT GIVEN HIM A NAME, KNOWING MY TIME WITH HIM WAS SHORT. I AM GRATEFUL SIMPLY FOR THE CHANCE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO ALLOW HIM LIFE. NAME HIM WELL, FOR IF HE IS ANYTHING LIKE HIS FATHER, HIS SPIRIT SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO TAME. I HAVE THE FEELING THAT I WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO SEE HIM AGAIN IN THIS LIFE, BUT I KNOW I LEAVE HIM IN GOOD, LOVING HANDS.  
  
Nodoka read the rest of the letter, scarcely breathing. She looked again at the bundle in her arms, sadness warring with joy in her heart. She sat on her porch for a long time, reading and thinking.  
  
**  
  
When Genma came back from his latest training trip, he was greeted by his smiling wife and their new son, Ranma.  
  
-----------------  
  
Sorry for delay. Hope this sparks your interest a bit. Translation: Arigato Gezeimashita- VERY formal way of thanking someone for their hospitality. I get the feeling that SHE'D be formal even to one she considered a friend. It seems like her character. 


	7. An Unexpected Turn or two

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
Rurouni Kenshin and Ranma 1/2 are not mine legally or otherwise. I just hope that those who do own them don't mind my little version of their characters. All harmless fun, I assure you.   
  
Chapter 7  
  
------------------  
  
There was dead silence in the Tendo Dojo. Even the structure itself seemed to be holding its proverbial breath, the usual creaks and groans absent.  
  
Ranma stared at the woman he had not that long ago craved with his whole heart to meet. She had only come rather recently into his life. His memories of her until then had been vague, half-remembered dreams of gentle eyes and a soft voice.  
  
During his training journey, he'd not had much time to think about her. Intellectually, he knew that she must exist somewhere, but the demands of focusing only on fighting and finding his next meal had always kept him too busy to speculate about her existence. Only at night, in those few seconds before he fell into an exhausted sleep, would he sometimes look at the stars, and wonder.  
  
Then came his arrival in Nerima, and the resulting explosion of chaos. The subject was swept from his mind completely as all his attention was focused on the goal of staying whole and sane.  
  
Then with little warning he got word of her coming, and had learned from his idiot father of the seppuku pledge.  
  
Ranma had found to his surprise that there was a deep yearning in his heart for the loving presence of a mother. The day had finally come to meet her, albeit in the guise of his cursed form, and the feeling only increased. He ached silently for the maternal attention he had been denied for so long and had had so fleetingly in his life.  
  
Eventually, he despaired of ever getting the acknowledgement as her son he so needed. He resigned himself to forever hide from her in plain sight, all due to his feelings of inadequacy and his father's cowardice.  
  
Then, finally, he had gained his mother, and found himself both happy and uncertain at the same time. What did she want from him? Could he fill the role of complete manliness that she expected him to fill? Would he fail her?  
  
Despite the doubts, the one thing that pushed them all aside was the simple yet profound fact that she was his mother. A lot of things could be overlooked or explained away in the face of that truth. And now this.  
  
***  
  
Ranma was at a compete loss as to what to say or do. His usual tactic of insulting defensiveness just didn't apply here. He'd just been dropped a bombshell and was still picking up the pieces.  
  
He was pulled from the seemingly endless loop his thoughts had become as the large window of the room groaned in woody protest. Snapping back to reality, Ranma had enough time to realize that he'd been so distracted by the stunning news, that he hadn't even sensed the nearness of the others.  
  
The window gave one final protesting shriek and then caved in with several loud snaps, sending the Nerima regulars tumbling in on top of its remains and into the room. Ranma wondered how much they had heard. From their expressions, it had been enough.  
  
Genma started up first, wailing at Nodoka. "Woman, how could you do this to me?! To the future of the school?!"  
  
His wife's reply was a glare as she fingered the cloth covering her katana. Genma quickly backed off, turning immediately to throw his grievances at a less threatening target. The others were already there, crowding around Ranma and talking all at once. Everyone wanted his undivided attention for themselves, their shouts ranging from pleading to protests and, inevitably, to threats. The only exceptions were Cologne and soon Shampoo, who both seemed rather smug after Cologne had pulled her young charge aside for a quick whispered conversation.  
  
The din around Ranma just kept getting louder as they crowded even closer until he could barely move. Managing to free his arms from their clutches, Ranma clapped his hands over his ears, squeezing his eyes shut against the sudden vertigo of claustrophobia. He had a rather unsettling vision of a documentary he'd glimpsed once concerning a school of piranha. He couldn't take this any more!  
  
"SHUT UP!" He roared, his outraged bellow cutting through the noise like a katana through tofu.  
  
The sudden silence was so complete that it seemed like an extra person in the room. Cracking his eyes open, he saw that everyone was gaping at him, some cut off mid-word. He took a careful breath, dispelling a slight disorientation more often experienced by a diver whose lost track of up from down.  
  
They were about to start up again. He saw it in their stubborn sets to their jaws and the offended expressions that adorned every single one of them, making them look briefly like fun house mirrors of each other. It would have been funny if there had been anything about the situation to laugh about.  
  
Swiftly pushing himself upright, he took a quick look around him. He had their full, silent attention for the first time he'd come to this crazy town . . . and he hadn't a clue what to do with it. Anything he might say would somehow set them off. Of course, not saying anything would probably have the same effect.  
  
"Leave me alone." He finally muttered, his voice harsh and strange to his own ears. "I need to think about this. Just . . . leave me alone."  
  
He pushed forward, eyes straight ahead and his posture clearly conveying to the array of fighters that those who didn't move aside would be moved Through.  
  
The ranks parted, albeit reluctantly, all eyes still on him. Stopping at the edge of the ruined window, he reached up and caught hold of the frame, swinging gracefully up to the roof and out of sight.  
  
**  
  
No one moved for a timeless moment. The look on his face when he had actually Shouted at them had made even Cologne halt in caution. It was obvious to the most dim that Ranma was in no mood to be trifled with. That said Mousse, Kuno, and Kodachi took off after him.  
  
The rest stayed there. They could get him later, when he started to feel guilty for his rudeness. All that was left was to decide Who would get him first. This conclusion chillingly universal, they turned back to each other and the argument continued as though there had never been any interruption.  
  
**  
  
Ranma had wandered well away from the Dojo, and the bedlam that was no doubt reigning there at that very moment. He was crouched under the arch of a bridge on the edge of the district. It was a better hiding spot than the top of a house, what with all the roof-hoppers that seemed to permeate Nerima. He had discovered the place when he fell into the river nearby after one of his involuntary trips through the air. These days it was being used more and more frequently. It was a refuge from the madness of his life.  
  
So he sat there, trying to find some way to sort out the newest twist his life-path had abruptly taken. This time he had no one to fight, no one to yell at to find the answers to his questions. Despite all the training in mind as well as body that he had received from Dr. Tofu, he was still very much a young man of action. He needed to DO something about his problems; to physically face them head on and defeat them. Unfortunately, that particular strategy had never worked with his girl troubles and, as he was finding out now the hard way, it wasn't helping his present dilemma either.  
  
Tilting his head back, the black-haired crown making contact with the cool stone of the bridge, he looked up at the stars, visible if he angled his head just a bit to the side. They held no answers, either. His hands clenched into fists in silent frustration, then relaxed with a resigned sigh as he forced himself to sit there and think.  
  
*This deciding stuff on your own thing is harder than it looks. * he thought ruefully, one hand absently going up to rub the back of his head. His eyebrows lowering, he forced himself to concentrate on the exercise Dr. Tofu had given him to help figure things out.  
  
~Who?~ Well, him of course. Whoever that was.  
  
He snorted in disgust. This was already feeling lame.  
  
~What?~ He'd just found out that his parents weren't his parents, and every moment of misery he'd gone to for the Saotome name had been for nothing.  
  
He scowled at that. No way was he nothing.  
  
~When?~ About an hour ago. 17 years ago. Who knew when else.  
  
He almost gave up in disgust at that. He didn't have enough clues to even begin to sort the When.  
  
~Why?~  
  
Now wasn't that the 10000 yen question?  
  
~How?~  
  
How was he going to deal with this?  
  
Ranma brought his legs up to his chest, resting his weary head on his knees. How could he deal with this? It wasn't like he had any choice But to deal with it. It was there, and no amount of pretending would change it. He'd just be fooling himself. The fact was that he hadn't a clue who and where his real family was. Did he have siblings? Was there a mom and dad out there that would actually care about him? If he left to find out, what would he do about his fiancée problem? It wasn't as though he could just go and forget about all the troubles he'd had since Pop had dragged him to the Tendo Dojo and told him he was engaged . . .  
  
Ranma's head jerked up, his mouth dropping open and his eyes glazing in utter shock.  
  
The realization that Genma was not his natural father and thus had not paternal emotional (or financial) hold on him hit him like a wet sock in the face. His mind raced ahead to the obvious conclusions. His mind working on overdrive, the rest of him could only sit it a stupor, his vision turned inward as his mouth hung open. As epiphanies went, this one took a surprisingly short time to process. Maybe because he had wished for this very situation so often over the years. Then his mouth closed and his lips twitched.  
  
**  
  
A loud whoop of absolute delight rang through the night, carrying over both districts.  
  
***  
  
At the Tendo Dojo, most of the guests (the slightly more normal ones) had dispersed to their homes. The Wrecking Crew had retired to the receiving room. They were silent for the most part, having used up the majority of their breath and strength in the earlier discussion/brawl. The battle had degenerated to the glares that were frequently shot between factions.  
  
They were waiting for Ranma to return. Each was determined to get to him first.  
  
Genma and Soun were playing shogi. Each was determined not to look away.  
  
Nodoka came into the room from the kitchen, Kasumi at her shoulder. "The meal is ready." She said calmly.  
  
Genma's head whipped up at the mention of food, an eager look on his face, before he realized just what he had done. Turning back quickly, he saw that it was too late. A composed, all too innocent looking Soun raised a smug eyebrow at his opponent's open consternation.  
  
"Looks like I win this one, Saotome." He commented placidly, his lips twitching under his mustache against the urge to smirk in triumph. Genma looked again at the board, and acknowledged to himself that it was hopeless. Rather than face the coming taunts, he mumbled some excuse about taking some air and went outside, giving the inhabitants a brief glimpse of the yard, the surface of the koi pond reflecting the light of the half-full moon, before Genma slid the shoji door closed behind him.  
  
There were a few more minutes of relative quiet, and then.  
  
"RANMA! THERE YOU ARE! YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO, BOY!"  
  
Followed by a loud splash.  
  
**  
  
All the residents of the Dojo rushed out at once, going around, and over, but mostly, through, the door.  
  
There was Ranma, standing in the yard and calmly dusting off his hands as Genma-panda surfaced from the pond. Shampoo and Ukyo got to him first.  
  
"Ranma honey!"  
  
"Airen!"  
  
Ranma stood his ground in the face of the onrushing female martial artists. Then he moved, weaving between them like they were traffic cones in an obstacle course as he dodged each attempted glomp. He no longer looked calm, his jaw set and his normally bright blue eyes darkened with determination. The girls ended up sprawled face-first in the dirt when their diving jumps failed.  
  
Indignant, the two of them got up from their unaccustomed dirt meal, turning murderous gazes on the boy they had seemed so happy to see a moment earlier. Ranma ignored them, daring so far as to turn his back on them as he walked over to where Genma-panda was wading out of the pond. Ranma stopped a healthy distance away from the wet man turned bear, his posture stiff and unyielding as he eyed the other coldly. His gaze flickered to an amused Nabiki. "Get hot water. Now." The manipulative girl looked at him in surprise, starting to object at being ordered around, but shut up as freezing grey-blue eyes as warm and cuddly as a glacier met hers. She decided that, for the moment, it was tactically best to keep quiet and do as the obviously furious martial artist told her. Payback could be extracted at a later time.  
  
Ranma returned his stare to Genma, his icy gaze unwavering. The said older man/panda felt a chill race up his furry spine that had nothing to do with the pond's temperature.  
  
Nabiki returned with a steaming kettle, and vented some of her offended dignity by dumping the nearly boiling contents on the gluttonous male's fuzzy head. Genma changed back to human form with a yelp, his white bandanna and gi steaming in the night air. Trying to regain some dignity, he straightened and put on a great show of indignation, berating the young man before him.  
  
"Ungrateful boy! How dare you treat your poor father this way! After all I've done for you! Stop sulking like a girl and act like a-"  
  
"Shut.Up!" Ranma ground out between now clenched teeth, his glare intensifying. The blunt order, laced with such loathing and pure venom, had an unexpected effect. Genma shut up, his voice cutting off without his permission while his jaw hung open, his eyes bulging in disbelief behind his glasses. Everyone stared at Ranma in renewed shock. Despite everything, he had never sounded so- so Murderous before.  
  
Ranma crossed his arms, surveying Genma from head to toe in a slow, deliberate fashion. His expression of absolute disgust only seemed to grow with each inch. Finally he looked back up at Genma's gaping face. With one last snort of distaste, he glanced over at Nodoka, who was standing on the porch with Kasumi. His gaze softened somewhat at her startled and somewhat hurt expression.  
  
"sorry about this." He whispered, the sound loud in the charged atmosphere of the yard. Then his gaze returned to Genma and returned to its previous disdain. Standing tall, he then bowed stiffly.  
  
The action brought home to his audience the sudden realization that he had grown in the years that he had lived there. He had added only a few inches in height, but his body now seemed composed of more muscle, most of the baby fat gone from his frame and face. He looked very adult there in the moonlight, his grave features handsomely outlined by the slight illumination. He spoke, and his voice was low and stiffly correct, as if he was reciting a memorized speech. Little of the poor language that normally laced his words was present.  
  
"Pop, I have come to you for a very serious reason tonight." He said, pausing to take a deep breath, any sign of nervousness squashed down in an instant. He continued, his voice firm. "I don't know if there's some kind of special ceremony for this kind of thing. . ." He shrugged, looking a bit more like his usual self. "Oh, well. I'll just have to make it up as I go along. Anything-Goes you know." He said, flashing a humorless smile.  
  
He bowed once again to the older man before him, this one so short and miniscule that it was well over the line considered to be insulting.  
  
"Genma Saotome. I hereby renounce any and all ties, relations, and holds I have, knowingly or otherwise, with you. And in doing so-" The pain in his eyes was visible now "-I also give up the Saotome name. It is not mine to have, and the dishonor you have brought to it destroys any possibility of me Wanting to be known of that clan."  
  
He paused again to take several more steadying breaths. The expressions of most of the crowd would be almost funny if the atmosphere wasn't so serious. They all looked like landed fish, save Nodoka and Kasumi.  
  
Cologne, too, got over her surprise quickly, her beady eyes thoughtful and guarded as she studied the dark back of her future son-in-law's head. She was pulled abruptly from her musings as his voice continued, sounding firm.  
  
"The school name I'll keep. The one good thing you've probably ever done in your whole life was to teach me how to fight." His teeth flashed briefly. "Though the way you did it stunk." He frowned, his eyes turning up to the stars. "Martial arts are a part of me now. I couldn't leave what I've learned behind even if I wanted to. It's my life. It's who I am."  
  
Ranma looked once again at Nodoka, regret and a silent apology in his eyes. Nodoka in turn looked sad, but reluctantly nodded her acceptance, the look she gave in return one of pride for his maturity.  
  
*  
  
Warmed by her unspoken support, Ranma turned back to Genma, whose jaw was now near ankle level. It would be a while before his brain could even begin to scramble up a coherent response. Ranma glanced around at the semi- circle of people. He couldn't help but smirk inwardly as they eyed him like he'd grown another head.  
  
"I've decided to go and find my real family." He said quietly. "I don't have much to go on, but I know I have to try." He scowled. "I have to get out of this crazy place before I lose it completely." He turned to Ukyo. In stark contrast to his seeming indifference earlier, his eyes now showed regret as he looked at her. "Since I'm no longer a Saotome, all pledges and contracts made don't apply to me anymore."  
  
Ukyo glared back, her jaw clenched defiantly. But looking into her oldest friend and hoped for husband's eyes, she saw something. A determination, maybe. Or a sad truth. Her resolve wavered and dissolved like mist. Tears streaming down her face, she bolted into the house. Ranma watched her leave sadly.  
  
*  
  
Cologne hopped forward into the conversation gap, clearing her throat. "Very well done, son-in-law, but I feel I must remind you before you say something foolish that your Amazon marriage is not through you former father. It still applies to you personally, not whatever family name you may currently have." She eyed him sharply, braced for the inevitable explosion.  
  
Ranma did look about ready to take her up on the challenge in her expression, but visibly held himself in check. "Elder Cologne-" He started, his words coming out somewhat stiffly despite his best efforts. "I really think I need to find out who I really am and where I've come from before I can tackle any more fiancée stuff. You'll have to take it up with my real parents, whenever I find them that is." His entire posture was determined, but his words were sincere.  
  
Cologne looked startled, then thoughtful, her sharp eyes studying him intently. Finally, she nodded inclined her head in agreement. "Very well, son-in-law. I would ask that you take Shampoo with you-" Ranma's eyes widen in panic "-but I think I already know your answer. All I ask then is that when you find them you allow me an audience to explain our laws to them." Ranma eyed her warily, but nodded at what seemed a reasonable request.  
  
"Shampoo go too!" The girl announced firmly, her ruby eyes determined. Before a newly alarmed Ranma could make some excuse the young Amazon was interrupted by, of all people, her great-grandmother.  
  
"No, Shampoo. This is something he has to do on his own. I believe this task will be yet another test to strengthen him further. He will be of even more value to the tribe then."  
  
Ranma's, mouth closed on his half-formed objection, though he looked as though he couldn't decide if he should be grateful or worried by her statement. Cologne gave a mental sigh of relief. She had truly not wanted to push him so far that he would be forced to fight. Her confident attitude toward him since Mt. Phoenix had been almost completely a façade. Ranma's victory over the seemingly all-powerful phoenix god of her childhood nightmares had shaken up her world view quite a bit.  
  
For the first time in centuries, the ancient Amazon doubted her ability to win against an opponent; a male one at that. She he be pushed too far, there was no telling what Ranma was no capable of.  
  
Shampoo said nothing more, though she was visibly pouting. The stubborn glint in her eyes was all the proof Ranma needed that she hadn't let the idea go yet, and would probably sneak after him at the first opportunity.  
  
Then Ukyo, who had returned from the house during the conversation looking a bit red around the eyes but seeming to regain her resolve, volunteered to go with him too. "My business was mobile to begin with." She said with strained cheer, not meeting his eyes. "I can pack up and be ready to go in a few hours."  
  
That last offer seemed to break the spell of silence over the rest of the yard. The scene erupted with shouts of protest and threats. Soun and Genma were beaten out by Akane in sheer volume. They were soon arguing amongst themselves, the two older men supporting Akane's position, much to her chagrin and denial.  
  
Ranma debated on whether or not to join in, but gave it up as a hopeless battle that even He had no chance of winning. Once again, they were talking AT him, not WITH him. He seriously debated just slipping away while they were still in the thick of it, when the entire scene was interrupted by a rare source.  
  
**  
  
Kasumi was still standing on the porch, smiling at how energetic everyone was being. As she was looking on, a strange sparkle that had not been there a moment before caught the corner of her eye. Looking up, she found herself viewing their much-abused koi pond. Something was happening in its clear waters, this time without any help from the usual perpetrators.  
  
Her warm brown eyes widened at the sight before her.  
  
"Oh, My!" She gasped.  
  
**  
  
Heads snapped around at the eldest Tendo girl's exclamation, then turned like stringed puppets toward the direction of her gaze. Jaws dropped.  
  
There was a white glow in the exact center of the circular pool. It started out as a spark the size of a candle flame, but then it slowly spread out in all directions until it encompassed the entire pond. The brightness of it faded somewhat, and the eyes of the onlookers cleared. Where once lay the watery adornment to the yard was now a circle of what could only be described as a sheet of glass. The stars reflected clearly on its surface.  
  
The radiance retreated, until it was once again in the center. There it stopped, forming a small ring just wide enough to fit a person in the middle of it.  
  
In its' center something was rising from the surface. The form of what appeared to be the ghost of an elaborately dressed young woman was slowly materializing out of the glass. When her feet cleared the surface she solidified and the last of the light faded altogether. Before them a beautiful girl with mouse-brown hair that floated about her opened her cornflower blue eyes and smiled at the staring group. Her delicately formed face, framed by strange markings on her cheeks and forehead, seemed completed by the bright, innocent smile that would have made a rock want to return the favor. Ranma dimly heard someone gasp in the background and realized that it was Cologne.  
  
The figure before them smiled serenely, her gaze taking in each person as if acknowledging each one of them individually as worthy of notice. Then those incredible eyes fell on Ranma, whose surprise quickly turned to cautious expectation.  
  
As strange as it sounded, seeing a girl coming out of a suddenly solidified pool like she was stepping out of her own house was not the weirdest thing to have ever happened to him. However, these little events always had one thing in common. They spelled trouble for him. Usually major trouble.  
  
His suspicions seemed to be confirmed as her smile, if possible, grew even more as she saw him, her eyes lighting up. *Thankfully not literally *, he thought somewhat bemusedly. He was trying, and failing, to keep an answering, shy smile from appearing on his face. There was just something about this girl that shouted 'MOTHERLY.' She reminded him strongly of Kasumi. He found himself straightening like a school boy with dirty knees before an elegant lady.  
  
Then she spoke, her voice soft and gentle, completing the image of everyone's ideal older sister. "Oh, There you are. You've grown up so much. You look very handsome." She practically beamed at him.  
  
*  
  
Ranma felt his cheeks reddening at the honest compliment. A small part of his mind noted that he had rarely blushed in his entire life. The greater, more dazzled area of his brain told that part to be quiet.  
  
The strange girl was still looking at him, and he mentally scrambled to find his voice. "Who're you?" it finally managed, and he cringed inwardly at how abrupt and rude it sounded even to his own ears. Somehow, the idea of addressing this person in anything but the most respectful way possible seemed wrong.  
  
Fortunately, she didn't seem to take offense. Something about the way she looked at him told him more than words could that she understood what he had meant to say instead. Who was this girl/woman/vision?  
  
She bowed politely. "Forgive me, I have not introduced myself properly."  
  
Ranma almost protested aloud that he doubted that she could be rude in any way, but managed to close his teeth around the atypical response before it could escape. What was wrong with him?  
  
She smiled around at them all once more, and the gesture warmed even the most hardened of her audience.  
  
"My name is Belldandy, Goddess of the Present. It's nice to meet you all. I've come for Ranma -such a nice name too, and so appropriate . . ."  
  
--------------------  
  
I'm mean, I'm bad. I'm the queen of procrastinators. *bows low in apology * I have no excuses, but I hope you like this anyway. Oh, I've been informed by my sister that Belldandy uses mirrors while URD uses water. However, I wanted to use the symbolism of the infamous koi pond in her appearance. Soooo . . . I kinda cheated. ^_^ Thanks for all the kind and heartfelt death threats. The last one was particularly good. Thanks thermopyle! ^_~ 


	8. Time and Reflections

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
R1/2 and RK are not mine. I am getting no money out of this. Only a curious mix of pleasure/pain (i.e.. Getting compliments and having to update and make it good). Any variations from the original characters are caused by the fact that I am not the original creator(s) and so think differently. Duh. ^_^   
  
Chapter 8  
  
Time and Reflections  
  
------------------------  
  
Everyone had adjourned to the Tendo sitting room once again. Kasumi was pouring out some tea, receiving a warm thanks from the self-declared goddess Belldandy, who sat at the center of attention.  
  
After her calm declaration of divine status, not to mention her purpose for coming there, the yard had been so silent that you could practically hear the koi breathing. Then it was shattered once again by the inevitable chaos that was a Nerima argument. Belldandy had seemed slightly taken aback by all the commotion, her expressive eyes widening.  
  
Then all protests had been effectively squashed by an unlikely trio of rescuers. Kasumi, Nodoka, and most surprising of all, Cologne, had stepped forward. They'd formed a determined wall of bodies between the newcomer and the others. Kasumi appeared to be motivated by the sight of a fellow gentle woman in trouble. Nodoka took a mother's point of view. All of her softer instincts had been activated at first sight of the lovely girl.  
  
Cologne's reasons were her own.  
  
This unexpected opposition cowed the worst of the lot. Ranma could only gawk at it all as the women respectfully ushered Belldandy into the house, setting her in a place of honor at the table while they left to prepare tea and snacks. Their orders not to bother her were clearly stated, the look in Nodoka's eyes alone enough to make the majority back off. Genma was cowering in a far corner after a particularly dark look cast his way by his wife.  
  
They all waited in brittle silence. Ranma chafed at the delay, shifting about in his seat at the table, afire with curiosity. What did she want with him? Was she really a goddess? He felt a sudden chill. Had she come about his fight with Saffron? He Was a demi-god, after all. Had he angered some divine court because of his actions on Phoenix Mountain?  
  
"No. I have not come to speak of the Phoenix king."  
  
Ranma was abruptly jerked out of the downward spiral of worry his thoughts had become by Belldandy's soft voice. Looking up, blue eyes met blue. Ranma could only blink in stupefication. "What?" He managed to say.  
  
Belldandy's smile dimmed slightly, a truly alarming sight. It was probably her version of a severe look. "The one known as Saffron was not recognized as having any divine status by Yggdrasil. I am here concerning a wish made by your mother." Her smile widened to its usual dimensions. "The wish parameters include the reading of the recipient's thoughts. Since you are the focal point of the wish, your thoughts are also considered to be within the contract."  
  
Ranma sat back, processing this. He was more than a little worried by the idea. He hadn't been thinking very charitably toward a whole lot of people lately. His brain might just get him into trouble. However, as the rest of her sentence registered, his worries were pushed to the background. Glancing in the direction of the kitchen, and seeing that all was clear for the moment, he returned his gaze to the goddess. "My mom?" He prompted eagerly. He leaned forward over the table, his posture conveying just how interested he was in the subject.  
  
Everyone else in the room tried to fade into the woodwork, hoping that if they weren't noticed they wouldn't be sent away. The curiosity level would have put an alley full of cats to shame.  
  
Belldandy nodded, immediately seeming to understand both spoken and unspoken questions. "Yes. I speak not of Saotome Nodoka, but the woman who gave you life." She looked at him kindly. "She who was your birth mother. The one that made the wish I have come to at last complete."  
  
*  
  
Ranma sat back, his face blank but his eyes showing a virtual storm of conflicting emotions. He honestly didn't know What to think anymore.  
  
A few hours ago, he had learned that he was adopted. Then, just as he managed to get a mental hold on that idea and decide to go find the truth of where he came from, a rather large clue had literally dropped in. He didn't know whether to be excited or paranoid. He settled for somewhere in the middle.  
  
Before he could attempt to say anything further, the three eldest women of the group chose that moment to sweep into the scene. Kasumi came first, a formal tea set held carefully before her. Cologne and Nodoka were flanking her on either side. They cast disapproving looks at Ranma, evidently divining from his posture that he was bothering their special guest.  
  
Ranma clapped his mouth shut under their scrutiny, knowing he'd just get into more trouble if he protested. Holding tightly to calm and his limited patience, he braced himself to wait through the entire ceremony.  
  
**  
  
Kasumi and Belldandy bonded immediately, falling into conversation as if they were old friends. Anyone watching them would have sworn that they must have been separated at birth, so alike did they seem in personality despite their differing looks, and fashion taste. Nodoka made pleasant conversation when she could inject a word or two in, and surprisingly respectful Cologne chimed in occasionally as well.  
  
The rest of the residents' just sat their, tea largely forgotten as they listened in fascination to the four-way exchange. Eyes darted from speaker to speaker, but they kept carefully silent.  
  
Finally, after a few hours of excruciating small talk, Ranma could stand it no longer. Setting down his cup with an audible clink!, and trying to ignore the stern looks thrown his way by Nodoka and Cologne, he focused completely on the brown-haired goddess. He had only one goal at the moment. He needed answers and he needed them Now. However, he still had enough of a sense of self-preservation to attempt to go about it somewhat politely.  
  
"Ok. You've told us who you are and stuff. Now can ya-You please explain what you meant by 'you've come for me'? And what you mean by my birth mother and a wish." He finished firmly, jaw set. He refused to meet any other gaze but that of Belldandy. He would not be deterred even by protocol now.  
  
If he was expecting some sort of evasion, then he was pleasantly surprised for the nth time that night.  
  
Belldandy smiled, setting down her empty cup as well. Her delicate hands rested in her lap as she looked back at him. "Of course, Ranma-san. An explanation is the very least I can give you in what must be quite a strange situation for you."  
  
Ranma managed to close his mouth on the protest he had ready. All this cooperation was really starting to make him edgy. No one had Ever been this willing to explain things to him.  
  
Belldandy settled herself further, her head raised to address the onlookers as well as him. "About 150 years ago, as you measure time, a young woman turned up on our database as eligible to have a wish granted. You see, only certain people fill the parameters needed for granting a wish. They are rare enough that someone of at least goddess status is sent to them. The wish can be anything they desire."  
  
"This woman lived in a time of war. Her wish was to have her unborn child grow up in a time where that conflict was no more than a memory. So, in order to grant her request, she was taken to this time; to a little over 17 years ago to be precise."  
  
Belldandy's face saddened slightly as she took in a wide-eyed Ranma. "Once you were born, she had to go back to her own place in time, and to whatever fate had in store for her there."  
  
"You see, her presence in a time in which she was not supposed to exist was causing rather large waves in the time stream. As a result, natural chaotic ripples that would otherwise have happened in separate places were all converging on one spot; that which she occupied."  
  
Nabiki cleared her throat "Just what do you mean by 'chaotic ripples'." She asked. She was taking in every word, her eyes sharp with interest.  
  
"Everyone has a certain place in history they are supposed to be at a certain time in their lives. Any variation in that causes ripples like a stone tossed into a pond. If one is off, then it affects everyone around them to a certain degree, pushing them slightly out of alignment from where they are supposed to be. And so it continues until it hits a proverbial shoreline and bounces back." She looked solemn. "Your mother was only able to be here for a relatively small amount of time, so as to minimize the effects. By the time the ripples returned, she had already been put back in her rightful place. You, however, were still here, and so became the focus of the fluctuations. You create less disturbance because of the fact that you were born in this time, but unfortunately you seem to have received the greater part of the impact for both you And your mother. Reality is continually struggling to adjust around you, with sometimes unusual shapes." She smiled apologetically.  
  
"Wait a minute!" Ranma finally managed to sputter. "Are you telling me that That's why my life is so nuts?!" He asked incredulously.  
  
Belldandy nodded. Ranma boggled. He'd always had a suspicion that the universe was out to get him. It was not at all fun to find out that he was right. He shook his head in helpless disbelief.  
  
"It's not, you've simply been displaced in it. It's trying to adjust around you." Belldandy corrected.  
  
Ranma stared at her, realized that he hadn't spoken aloud and groaned inwardly as their audience looked on in some confusion. He could get tired of that mind-reading trick of hers really fast.  
  
Nabiki spoke up again, sensing that she was out of the loop. "So in other words, now that the wish has been officially completed by Ranma's 'growing up'-." Her mouth twitched against a derisive smirk at the notion. Ranma glared at her. She ignored him. "-You've come to take him back to where he should have been in the first place. 150 years in the past." She finished smugly, knowing she was right.  
  
The crowd exchanged startled glances. Even Ranma looked taken aback. He'd been so focused on extracting reasons that he hadn't thought that far ahead. He cast the young goddess an inquiring glance, but whatever she might have said was forestalled as Nabiki continued, unwilling to surrender the floor so soon.  
  
"The goddess here-" She said, nodding to Belldandy, "-said the terms of the wish were 'a time without war' and 'where the war was just a memory' and 'where he can grow up'. She raised an eyebrow. "It's no coincidence that someone shows up to collect him on his 17th birthday. They must consider him to be technically an adult." She couldn't resist the sarcasm this time, her grin only widening at the annoyed look Ranma cast her.  
  
"Yes, that's it!" Belldandy agreed happily, completely oblivious to any mockery. Nabiki looked at her as if she couldn't decide whether to believe that someone could be that clueless or she was being mocked. But one glance at her older sister, who was also beaming, and she gave up. She'd never be able to prove it either way.  
  
Genma finally spoke up, backed quickly by a stern looking Soun. They tried to loom from their far corner away from the dangerous cluster of women, with little success. "I'm sorry, young lady, but the boy's place is here with his fiancée." Soun nodded in agreement. "His engagement to my daughter is important to the future of our school. He is to marry Akane and carry on the Anything Goes Martial Arts tradition."  
  
"No way! I told you that I'm not marrying that pervert!" Akane immediately objected. Why did their fathers' have to drag that out all the time? It seemed like they never thought of anything else.  
  
Soun chided her. "Now Akane, it is your duty as the Tendo heir to . . ." Genma chimed in at the same time "Now, Akane-chan you know this is your father's and my decision that . . ." The three broke into an argument, Akane by far the loudest of the trio and the most threatening. The two men backed away from her fists' range, but continued to alternately order and cajole.  
  
Belldandy sat there, large blue eyes blinking in bewilderment at the scene. She looked from them to an irritated yet resigned Ranma who was eyeing them as well. "Ranma," she asked innocently "Are you really a pervert?"  
  
Ranma's whipped his head around, tearing his gaze away from the familiar, depressing scene to stare at her in dazed befuddlement. The question even quieted the quarrel in the background. All eyes turned to the raven-haired martial artist.  
  
Ranma's mouth worked for a moment, trying to even attempt to come up with an answer for the unexpected question. The inquiry was unheard of in Nerima. But finally, he managed to shake his head, slowly at first, then firmly. "No, Belldandy-san. I'm not." He said quietly.  
  
Belldandy smiled one of her special smiles. "I'm glad." She said.  
  
Akane opened her mouth to refute that, but events were already moving on without her. Ranma's expression grew more serious as he met the lighter colored eyes of their guest. "I don't want to hurt your feeling, but I just have to ask . . ." he paused then plowed forward "don't I get Any say in this at all? All my life others have been deciding things for me, and I've only recently been trying to get control and think for myself."  
  
Ranma shifted uncomfortably in his kneeling position, feeling like he was being incredibly rude. But, he didn't like to leave things uncompleted so he managed to finish. He needed her to know how he felt. "I just want to have a choice in whether I'm going somewhere. I won't be forced into anything ever again." He finished, his voice was cautious, as if feeling out unknown, possibly dangerous ground, but the look in his eyes was resolute.  
  
Before Belldandy could reply Cologne spoke up, her tone reproving. "Watch your tongue, son-in-law." She said sharply. "It is not your place to question the will of the gods." She straightened to her full, diminutive height. "Do you have any idea to whom you speak? By her markings she is a goddess of the first class, with unlimited access. She is a sacred being." She scolded.  
  
Ranma could only blink at the old hag lecturing him. She had rarely been so straightforward, preferring to trick him into doing what she wanted. The visit of a goddess had obviously shaken up her calculations quite a bit.  
  
Belldandy looked at the old woman beside her, surprised. "You know a lot more than most do about ways of the heavens." She said curiously. Cologne bowed low. "I have had . . . dealings with the Powers in times past." She said, her face still toward the floor, hiding her eyes.  
  
Belldandy looked thoughtful, studying the older looking woman.  
  
Ranma spoke before they could get even more off track. He was starting to lose patience again. "Belldandy- . . .sama. DO I get a say in this?" He asked after a brief pause and glance at Cologne.  
  
Belldandy turned back to him, her eyes wide at the question. "Why of course you do." She said.  
  
Ranma stopped, blinking stupidly. "I do?" he managed weakly. Man, this situation was starting to feel more and more unreal.  
  
Belldandy nodded. "I didn't realize that you would object to going back to the time you should have been in in the first place, but if you need to think about it that's ok with me. Free choice is very important. You must do what you think is right, for yourself and for those around you."  
Ranma looked into those guileless eyes and saw only truth. He had some control in this bizarre situation after all. She had stated as much, and he could only believe her. This gentle girl could not possibly be capable of any type of deceit. Every instinct shouted it. It was now his decision what happened next. Felling more than a little weirded out, he managed to stammer out a request for a day to think about it. Belldandy agreed. "I'll stay here and talk to my wonderful hostesses'!" she said happily, turning back to the three women around her.  
  
Nodoka and Kasumi edged forward, and soon the three were once again engrossed in pleasant conversation.  
  
**  
  
For a minute Ranma just sat there, unable to decide whether to be pleased or indignant at the apparent dismissal. She hadn't been rude about it. She was giving him exactly what he requested; time to think. She wouldn't bother him until he made up his mind.  
  
Feeling awkward, he got up and left the room. He noticed that most of the others had taken their leave while he was still sitting there, but was too preoccupied at the moment to worry about possible trouble from them just yet. Hands in his pockets, he meandered down the hall.  
  
Unfortunately for his plans, it didn't take him long to start running into people. The first were, predictably, his Pop and Tendo-san. Or rather, Saotome-san and Tendo-san, he reminded himself with a sigh as he braced for a fight when he saw the two older men charging up. They came to an unexpected halt a respectful few feet away from him. Genma in particular seemed a bit more wary, though he was visibly twitching to get his hands on him.  
  
"Now, boy. Be reasonable." The older martial artist began. "You've always wanted to inherit the school. If you go off to some other time how can that happen?" he pleaded. Soun nodded. He was the perfect backup for his old friend, one chiming in where the other paused. "Yes, son. Think of our -your- dreams for the future. You can't go away now that they are so close." He had put on his city-councilor face, the very image of reasonability.  
  
Ranma studied the two of them, lined up against him and rather conveniently blocking the hallway. Then, very deliberately, he stepped forward, at the same time allowing his eyes to narrow slightly.  
  
Soun immediately jumped backward in fright, long hair stiff in alarm, leaving an opening beside the still stupidly stubborn Genma nearly wide enough for Ranma to get through. One well-placed kick in the fat man's side widened the gap. He continued on before the two could gather their metaphorical wits.  
  
Reaching the end of the hallway, he spotted Ukyo waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, shifting from foot to foot. Looking up, she saw him and her face brightened. "Ranchan!" she greeted him. "Where are you going?"  
  
Ranma shrugged. "Nowhere in particular. Just thought I'd walk around a bit."  
  
Ukyo smiled. "May I join you?" she asked, her tone a bit too eager.  
  
Ranma shook his head. His attention was mostly elsewhere, and so he missed the slight fall in her expression. "Sorry, Ucchan, but I gotta work this out alone."  
  
Ukyo opened her mouth to protest, to plead, to guilt trip him into letting her go by acting hurt, Anything to keep him within sight.  
  
Ranma spoke up, unintentionally forestalling whatever course of action she might have taken.  
  
"Ucchan, what would you do?" he asked suddenly, turning from his contemplation of the distance and looking at her. His eyes were sad. "If you had a chance to go be with a family you've never known, but had to drop everything to do it . . . would you go?" Troubled gray-blue eyes met hers.  
  
Ukyo started to speak, but realized that what she was about to say wouldn't help. She found it hard to meet the gaze of her distressed friend and lie. After a moment she was forced to look away, studying her feet instead.  
  
"I . . . I would do anything to be with my family again." She finally admitted softly, feeling as though the words were being torn from her. *That's not what I want to say! * She wailed inwardly. *Stay! Be with ME, your cute fiancée remember? Who cares about the past? Your future is with me! *  
  
But she didn't say any of that, simply staring at her stockinged feet with tears shimmering in the dark eyes hidden by her bangs.  
  
Ranma looked at her, understanding coming of just what she might be going through at that moment. This was his childhood friend. The one who had spent most of her life searching for him. She'd always been a support, listening when others would not. She had at least been willing to Try to see his side of things.  
  
"Maybe you can go home now, Ukyo." He said quietly. Her shoulders twitched at the more formal use of her name, the only sign that she had heard. "After all-" Ranma said, his old grin tugging at his mouth "You beat Pop-Genma- fair and square in a fight, so your honor should be restored. If that still isn't enough I'm sure you can discuss a proper price for your stolen dowry with mom." His voice softened again "You can go home, Ucchan."  
  
*Home is wherever You are. * Ukyo thought silently, but finally managed to nod her head. Blinking back the tears, she looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I'll think about it." She agreed quietly, biting her lower lip to prevent an outburst of emotion that might push him even further away from her. She had to go somewhere where she could think.  
  
Ranma smiled at her, clapping her on the shoulder as he passed like they were still childhood buddies. He gave a slight nod to a nearby shadow and received one in return. As Ukyo turned numbly toward her restaurant, Konatsu trailed respectfully after her.  
  
**  
  
Ranma actually made it as far as the gate this time and was turning into the street when he encountered Cologne and Shampoo. The old hag must have slipped away from the other women and been lying in wait. There was still no sign of Mousse. He was probably still running around the city mistaking telephone poles for Ranma or Shampoo. The Kunos had been blessedly absent since the initial revelation. Ranma hoped they had taken a wrong turn and ended up on the other side of Tokyo. Ryoga was who-knows-where, having not even made it the party. Ranma knew that it was only a matter of time before he showed up.  
  
*But back to the women at hand. * Cologne was looking at him with that same measuring expression she usually had whenever she laid eyes on him. It was one that clearly stated that she was intrigued by what she saw, but didn't know quite how to control it yet. It always made him feel like a more than a little uncomfortable, as if he were an unruly puppy that needed to be taught his proper place. The thought didn't put him in a very receptive frame of mind. "What do you want now?" He asked irritably, eying the two warily.  
  
"This changes things, son-in-law." Cologne said, ignoring his question and challenging behavior. She'd had a lot of practice at it. "Time travel was not a part of the agreement." She continued with a note of disapproval in her aged voice, as if he'd somehow come up with the whole idea in order to escape her, he thought in annoyance. Looking at the old ghoul, an idea of his own formed as he recalled her out of character reaction to Belldandy.  
  
"What about all your talk about 'the will of the Powers'?" He asked, smirking slightly as she twitched at having her earlier words thrown back at her. "Don't you think you're disagreeing with yourself?" he said, trying and failing miserably at an innocent look of inquiry.  
  
Cologne glowered at him from atop her staff. He wasn't impressed.  
  
Finally her lips pressed together in a thin line. "This isn't over Son-in- law." She said sharply, dragging an objecting Shampoo along with her. The young Amazon had remained silent, convinced that her great-grandmother had things under control. Her shrill protests were cut short by a whack to the head and the distant sound of scolding as they turned a corner.  
  
Ranma couldn't help but breathe out a sigh of relief. That had gone better than he'd dared hope.  
  
**  
  
Dawn found him still walking. Occasionally he would stop in his wandering and just look at a place. There by the canal was where he seemed to land the most frequently after a fight with Akane. This corner was where Shampoo favored landing on him with her bicycle.  
  
He walked on, each place seeming to hold a memory. The ice-skating rink, Furinken High, the park, the fountain . . . s/he wiped the cold water from her face, pushing back now fire bright bangs; the Ladle Lady. S/he smiled. S/he couldn't help but see the irony of it now. S/he had never passed that spry old woman without getting soaked, no matter how he approached the place. Absently, s/he pulled out yet another thermos, making a note to restock his supply of hot water. He was just glad that it never seemed to get cold stored in his personal space.  
  
He had already changed three times that night, falling into any water nearby. The rest of the time water seemed to seek him out on its own as a sprinkler system suddenly spurted or a bucket was dropped. He winced at the recollection, fingering the knot still forming on his head.  
  
A sudden, almost ridiculous notion crossed his mind, forming into an idea so preposterous that it just might work. Stopping, he retraced his steps to stand in front of the old bag. She looked up at him, smiling her deceptively unaware smile.  
  
There were a lot of things he'd always wanted to say. 'Stop doing that!' and 'I'm going to break you ladle, Ok?' being in the top five. Instead, he pushed back wet bangs in frustration at the whole, stupid scenario he'd lived with for too long.  
  
"May I help you with that, grandma?" He asked as politely as he could manage, stretching out an offering hand.  
  
She actually paused, looking almost startled. Then she smiled even wider, her eyes still closed, and handed him the ladle and bucket. Carefully, he splashed the contents onto the walk, well away from him. Then he handed her the empty containers, bowing and receiving a lower one in return. Turning, he made his way back onto the street. He abruptly had the strangest feeling; like he had crossed an unseen line into an alternate reality. In the place where he lived, things like this just didn't happen.  
  
Feeling slightly lightheaded at the feeling of displacement, he moved down the road. There were a few more stops he wanted to make before he went back to the Dojo and his fate, whatever it may be. Stride quickening, he headed for the clinic.  
  
------------------------  
  
It's coming. It's coming . . . honest. ^_^ Oh, I actually don't believe this time-displacement theory. The universe can't be as fragile as some believe. Someone displaced in time would more likely be like a twig in a river. The future (and past) is made by our choices. The idea of a fixed destiny is too depressing for words. Oh, I've already asked around a bit, but I'd like your input too. When Ranma is in girl form, should he be called 'he' or 'she'? I'm most concerned because there are some . . . *cough * . . . emotional scenes that would sound better if I used 'she'. Or should I continue to cheat with the 's/he' form? Annnnnnnd thanks to all you helpful people for pointing out the various true modes of travel for the three goddesses. The intent, if not the volume (42), was appreciated. P.s., my sister denies she ever said any such thing. Oops, my bad.^_^ 


	9. Decisions, Farewells at last!, and Encou...

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
previous disclaimers, please. Ranma ½ and Rurouni Kenshin crossover  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Decisions, Farewells (at last!), and Encounters  
  
--------------------------  
  
Dr. Tofu had been unable to attend the party. He'd had to stay at his office to attend to some unscheduled problems and sent a polite excuse instead.  
  
Now Ranma sought him out. After the extra-crazy night he'd just been through, he really needed the calm presence of the only teacher he could truly relax around.  
  
He waited impatiently in the waiting room, leaning against the wall as he looked out the window at the slowly awakening day. It looked like it was going to be a sunny one; a sharp contrast to his present mood. He glanced up as an old woman walked out of the exam room, Dr. Tofu not far behind her.  
  
"Thank you doctor." She said, bowing deeply. "I feel so much better." She peered up at him gratefully.  
  
"Any time Nagisa-san. Just remember to take it easy with those baskets." He replied cheerily, waving a hand in self-deprecation, his eyes hidden beneath the double barriers of his eyelids and the shine of his glasses.  
  
The old woman left and he turned towards Ranma. His eyes opened, his face losing its mask of cheerful helpfulness. Silently, he studied the young man before him. Brown eyes knowingly swept over the partially slumped form of the red-shirted martial artist, taking in the slight shadows under his eyes and the tenseness in his shoulders.  
  
"Come in, Ranma." He said quietly, motioning the teen to go before him. Ranma complied, walking in and hopping up onto the examination table. He sat with his feet tucked under his knees, elbows on his thighs. One hand went up to trail wearily through his hair as he allowed himself to slump for a moment, eyes closing wearily.  
  
Dr. Tofu shut the door and went to sit in his office chair next to the wall. Only a small window let in the outside light, presenting a problem for even the most petite of the local martial artists in squeezing through. Ranma was one of the few who knew that it was purposely designed that way. The doctor sat down calmly, seemingly at ease with his arms on the chair rests as he studied the one before him. His chair creaked slightly as he absently rocked back in it.  
  
Ranma looked up, uncomfortable at being watched. He fidgeted slightly, studying his shoes.  
  
Finally the doctor spoke, drawing the other's attention. "I heard a rumor today." He said. Ranma looked up. "Word has spread that you're leaving." He finished, eying him.  
  
"News gets around fast." Ranma muttered, not even bothering to try to be annoyed. That's just how things worked in Nerima. Sighing, he nodded in confirmation and at his sensei's inquiring look he began to relate the events of the previous night, beginning with the party and ending with his arrival at the clinic. He dwelt particularly on Belldandy's warning and offer. His uncharacteristically long speech finally wound to a close, leaving him feeling even more worn out than before.  
  
Dr. Tofu had remained silent throughout the recitation, despite the fact that he looked like he very much wanted to interrupt to ask questions more than once. The older man took his time considering what he had heard, his head tilted to the side in an unconscious gesture. Sunlight flashed off the lenses of his glasses as he shifted to return the younger man's expectant gaze.  
  
"Well, what have you decided?" he asked gently. The question was an obvious one, but one that needed to be said in order to bring it out into the open for the boy to face it.  
  
Ranma shifted uncomfortably, the paper sheet covering the table crackling with the movement. He silently admitted to himself that he had wanted Dr. Tofu to tell him what to do; to take the pressure off him. *I should have known better * he thought ruefully, mentally chiding himself. The doctor had never let him take the easy was out in their training. Heck, ever since he'd known him.  
  
Letting out a resigned sigh, Ranma gripped his knees and rocked slightly on his perch in unconscious emulation of the man before him as he tried to relax. He kept his mouth shut a few more moments, knowing that when the other asked a question it was best to think before he spoke. Then his grip on his knees slackened and his head dipped slightly in acknowledgement of his own thoughts.  
  
"I really do want to find out about my family. I Need to know what kind of folks I come from, and so find out a bit more about myself along the way." His troubled, overcast eyes lifted. "I've always felt a bit out of place. Like I belonged, yet didn't." He frowned at the garbled explanation but continued. "Every one wants a piece of me here. I've been stretched so thin I'm surprised no one can see through me yet. I guess . . . I just really wanted to be accepted." He shifted again, his frown deepening along with his eye color. "But the idea that my just being around could mess up reality and stuff doesn't make me feel too good. It was kinda the final straw after finding out I'm not the person I thought I was."  
  
"There is more to someone than a surname, Ranma." Dr. Tofu said, still watching him seriously. Ranma waved the comment off. "I know, but it's been the standard I measured myself against my whole life. I had to live up to the Saotome name." He paused. "Now . . . it just doesn't seem that important anymore. 'Specially since I'm not really a part of it." He smiled faintly, the expression not reaching his eyes. "Also, the fact that I'm actually given a say for once makes it a lot easier to decide." The smile twisted, becoming a pained thing. "And the idea of being Years and not just miles away from a few people has its appeal too."  
  
Ranma looked into the other's eyes once again, sad blue meeting into calm brown. Straightening, he hopped off the table, landing with a soundless, unconscious grace.  
  
"Well!-" he announced "-It looks like I'm headed for the Meiji Jidai!"  
  
***  
  
When Ranma returned to the Tendo compound, the first sound to greet his ears was that of flesh meeting brick and short shouts coming from the backyard. He hesitated for a moment, perched easily atop the wall, before leaping down and making his way toward the source of the noises, hands stuffed in his pockets. He turned the corner to take in the sight he'd known he would find.  
  
There was Akane, diligently punishing bricks. He walked to within a few feet of her, well within her line of vision, and leaned against the wall, watching. He knew she was aware of him, her obvious intention to pretend he wasn't there was spoiled by the slight tilt of her head in his direction. He didn't budge.  
  
Finally, she glanced up, annoyance clear on her face. She had always been the most emotional of the Tendo girls. Her face was as easy to read as his own. She was as open as the day they'd met. He sighed inwardly at the anger he felt directed toward him. Too bad it had been downhill since.  
  
"What do you want?!" she snapped at him crossly, dusting off her bandage- wrapped hands "Can't you see that I'm busy?" Her face was red from exertion.  
  
Ranma didn't budge from his position, seemingly lost in thought. The lack of a response only annoyed the girl more. No one likes being ignored.  
  
"Go away, Ranma." She said plainly, turning forcefully away from the young man before her.  
  
At last Ranma broke his silence. "Akane, I've been asking around and now I'm asking you. What do you think I should do?" he said, his voice calm, trying his best not to seem at all challenging.  
  
Akane looked over her shoulder at that, surprise clear on her face. He had seldom asked for advice, especially from her. She hesitated, feeling a bit flattered for a fleeting moment, before she recalled the first part of his sentence and turned away again, jaw tight. So, he had already asked everyone else? Why was she last in line?  
  
"You can do whatever you want. That's what you've been complaining so much about these past few months, isn't it? I don't really care what you do. Just decide on something and do it, but whatever it is, leave me out of it." She said, her voice rough and almost harsh in her ears.  
  
Only the early morning breeze answered her, then "Thank you, Akane-chan. Sayonara." The voice was gentle, almost . . .affectionate. Startled, she turned only to find that he was gone. The finality in those four words still hung in the air. The youngest Tendo sucked in a sharp breath in an effort to stave off the sudden hollow sensation in her chest.  
  
**  
  
Ranma climbed slowly up the stairs leading to his room. His eyes took in details that he had never bothered to note consciously before. The gentle curve of the ceiling, and the pleasant scent that always lingered in the air from Kasumi's cooking. He passed the duck-plated door leading to Akane's room without pausing. He smiled slightly as he noted Kasumi's.  
  
He made it a few steps past Nabiki's before the door opened and the middle Tendo herself stepped out. Ranma stopped in his tracks, pivoting on his heels to face her. In her own way, Nabiki could be just as dangerous as Cologne. Whatever she was up to, he didn't want to turn his back on her for an instant.  
  
The girl studied him coolly, her piercing gaze evaluating him from toes to crown. He could practically see the calculation behind her dark brown eyes. But she only looked at him, her expression revealing none of her true thoughts to those who did not know her well. Ranma was not one of those poor, oblivious few, and he waited tensely for her first move. Then she tilted her head to the side, a sign that she had come to some sort of decision. A slight smile flickered across her lips. "Take care of yourself, Ranma-kun." She said, her tone practically an order. Then she stepped back and the door clicked shut.  
  
Ranma stood a moment longer in the hallway, his face the perfect image of stunned incredulity. Hesitantly, he stepped back, away from the door. Then he dared to turn away, his head shaking slightly, but whether in disbelief or confusion even he couldn't tell for sure. But at last he reached his room, and stepped into the small space that he had used as his place of rest for the longest stretch of time in his life. Two years of occupancy had not been kind to the place. The ceiling and floor were cracked from repeated impacts by both bodies and weapons. The newest damage caused to the windows earlier had not yet been repaired.  
  
Tracing his way across the wooden floor, automatically avoiding the spots that creaked, he got to the closet and slid open the door. There was his pack, dumped there so long ago, but still laced up and ready. There had always been a part of him that assumed that his stay would be short, like all the other places he had stopped by in his life. But now he got no satisfaction in the knowledge that he had been right. He had allowed himself to take tentative root in Nerima. The beginning of the tearing of those thin ties was unexpectedly painful. Grimacing, he opened the sack and started removing the contents. The restraint of it on his back would hinder him when and if he had to run for it. Besides, he had since learned a more useful storage system.  
  
Stowing the contents in his personal chi pocket, he at last crumpled up the pack itself, putting it with the rest. The practicality of keeping something just in case it was needed again was ingrained in him after years of scrounging out an existence with limited resources. Who knew when he could get something like it again?  
  
Shaking himself out of his somber thoughts, he got up and left the room without a backward glance, pausing only to shut the door behind him, the sound of it clicking into place in its frame more meaningful than any vocal farewell.  
  
He went down the stairs and into the house and the sitting room. Even before he slid open the door, he knew that they were all waiting for him there.  
  
All the current residents, with the exception of Nabiki, had managed to crowd in. Ukyo and Shampoo had returned, and Ranma tensed inwardly at the determined set to their eyes and the hands that casually strayed toward ready weapons. His anxiety was relieved only slightly when he saw a resolute Nodoka trapping a desperate looking Genma in a corner. Any conversation died as Ranma stepped into the room. All eyes turned to him, and to the brown-haired visitor standing on the opposite side of the room, her face serene.  
  
Ranma moved forward, knowing that any sign of hesitation would be taken as a weakness to be pounced on by the hovering crowd. The tension was so thick that Ranma felt like he was pushing through mud. Still he grimly moved forward, eyes ahead and jaw set. The mass of people parted before his determined steps.  
  
He didn't stop until he was only a few steps away from the young goddess, their gazes meeting. Hers' held understanding. She had probably known his decision before he did. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to resent her for it. Still, something needed to be said, to bring it all out into the open for all to see.  
  
"I'm ready to go now." He said quietly, the sound shattering the paralysis of those around him. But there was no yelling, only murmurs of disbelief and outrage as they conferred among themselves. Ranma took it as a bad sign.  
  
Belldandy smiled and nodded, then turned to Kasumi, who hovered not far from her. "Would you have a large mirror in the house?" She asked politely. Her expression turned into gentle amusement, directed at herself. "It really is my preferred medium for travel, though any reflective surface will do."  
  
Kasumi nodded and smiled, departing to get the requested item, unfazed by the strange reasoning. The older girl had just barely stepped out of the room when her father moved forward, flinging himself to his knees at Ranma's feet and bawling. "NO, SON! DON'T GO! THINK OF OUR FUTURE!" he wailed, tears flowing like water from a hose.  
  
Ranma ignored the man crying on his shoes, his gaze sweeping around the gathering. Each moment of waiting became more and more uncomfortable. He could sense the impending violence and knew that this lingering would only cause it to build further. He was tense and waiting. Something was bound to try and interfere. It always did.  
  
Just as he had decided to speak in an effort to relieve the inward pressure Kasumi returned, lugging a rectangular mirror that was over half her height. Belldandy beamed at sight of it. "Oh, that's perfect Kasumi-chan. Thank you so much."  
  
But Ranma's eyes were not on the mirror. Everyone else in the room was looking at it. Even Soun had stopped crying long enough to stare. A feeling of impending doom washed over Ranma, sending prickles up his spine as he took in the intent, considering gazes that were fastened on that mirror like lampreys. Even his mother, and surprisingly enough, Akane, were looking at it as if it were about to bite them.  
  
The feeling turned to full-blown alarm as Kasumi started wading through the crowd, the mirror held precariously over her head. The people didn't part to let her pass, a rudeness that was more telling than an open challenge. Ranma's mind registered the tightening of the hands on Spatula and Bonbori as Kasumi continued on, seemingly oblivious to any problems.  
  
Ranma lunged forward at the same moment that Ukyo, Shampoo, and Cologne moved. Diving headlong into their midst, he blocked the Spatula with a knee, and then kicked out to divert a bonbori with a foot. The force of his defensive moves wrenched the weapons from the girls' grasps and they staggered back, momentarily stunned. A bewildered Kasumi then found herself lifted one-handed over one strong shoulder as Ranma fended off Cologne's attack with the remaining arm and one leg. Before any of them could recover he leapt over to the small space surrounding Belldandy and set the oldest Tendo girl down carefully, still on the alert. He stood between the young women and the crowd, glaring around in challenge. He wouldn't put anything past these people.  
  
The fiancées' pouted, but made no move toward them. It was clear that Ranma was in no mood to be trifled with. Cologne hesitated as Belldandy stepped forward, smiling reprovingly at the crowd before looking at Ranma, who had not relaxed his guard for a moment.  
  
"It's all right, Ranma-san. While it would have been sad to break Kasumi- chan's nice mirror, we would have been able to easily locate another.  
  
The hovering crowd seemed to deflate at that. As much as they delayed and sabotaged, there was no way that they could break every mirror in Nerima.  
  
Ranma nodded, his eyes never leaving the massed opposition. His gaze flickered briefly over to catch Nodoka's, who now held Genma back by the simple expedient of wedging her drawn katana between him and his escape route. The woman looked back at him sadly, her eyes glittering with unshed moisture, but she still managed a smile of pride for her adopted son. Ranma's heart eased somewhat as they exchanged silent farewells.  
  
Belldandy reached out her hand, and he clasped it. Exchanging a few fond farewells with Kasumi, the goddess stepped toward the mirror that was now propped against the wall. When her free hand touched the glass the surface rippled and began to glow, becoming opaque. Then her fingers passed through the glass like it was water, and the rest of her followed. Ranma was drawn in after her. He guarded their exit to the very last moment, his last glimpse that of the dawning realization on Akane's face.  
  
***  
  
Ranma felt himself moving through a space. It was hard to register where he was exactly. All his senses were useless it a place that seemed made up of swirling rainbows and light. He thought he heard the soft sound of voices singing in the distance, but that just might have been a trick of his noise-starved ears.  
  
Then there came a feeling of stillness in their journey, and he found himself in a pool of light much like a spotlight. Blinking, he realized that Belldandy's hand was still in his and that they had stopped in their strange journey. Ranma looked around. Where they stood was only emptiness. He didn't dare look down, fearing that he would see his feet firmly planted on nothing. He glanced back in the general direction of where he thought they had come.  
  
His head whipped back around, a cold sweat breaking out on his skin as he involuntarily shuddered in fear. Behind was only blackness, a void so immense that it seemed to suck at him, pulling him toward it if he looked too long at its emptiness. He tightened his hold on the hand in his, the only anchor in a place that threatened insanity for the unwary. He swallowed and managed to find his voice. "Where are we?" he croaked, the sound muffled and hollow.  
  
Belldandy tried to smile reassuringly, which didn't work too well since at the moment she appeared almost transparent, a light glowing from within and transforming her from a lovely girl into a mysterious being. It was only the fear of the unknown that kept him from dropping her hand like a hot rock.  
  
"We are in the Void of Time. Where we stand now is the small space occupied by the Present." Her hair moved in a wind neither felt nor seen by her unhappy guest. She looked apologetic. "I could alter it with my mind to seem more normal for you, since it is my realm of responsibility, but your escort will be here soon anyway."  
  
Ranma allowed himself to be distracted by that. "Escort? I thought that was you?" he said in confusion. Belldandy shook her head. "This is as far as I can go. You will be taken from here by Urd, Goddess of the Past." She said, nodding forward. Ranma risked a look forward and blinked. Everything in that direction was dim, like the worn writing on a page. He could make out shapes, but no detail. An idea occurred to him. "What's behind us?" He asked, having a sinking suspicion about the answer. Unfortunately, he wasn't disappointed.  
  
"There lies the future, as yet unwritten." Belldandy stated calmly, and he nodded. That explained why he felt that weird pull from it. The future draws everything toward it.  
  
Having a name for it didn't diminish his unease. He knew that the only thing keeping him whole and sane at the moment was the seemingly fragile grip of the being next to him.  
  
Just as he was sure he was about to go completely nuts, his eyes spotted movement ahead, a white glow sparking to life in the distance. It expanded quickly, moving toward them with the speed of a rocket.  
  
Ranma was starting to feel a different sort of alarm. At the rate it was going, it would crash right into them. He stood his ground, not wanting to risk even a single step back into that nightmare void. He was trying without luck to find some form of cover when the light was suddenly upon them. It stopped abruptly no more than an arms length away, causing Ranma to flinch in an aborted attempt to dive out of the way.  
  
Then the brightness cleared, and Ranma got a good look at the newcomer. He felt his jaw drop. A very good look.  
  
In front of them floated a tanned, white-haired woman, her forehead and cheek markings different from Belldandy's. She was definitely female, every line of her body practically shouting the fact. From her ornate yet revealing clothing to the smug pout of her mouth, she radiated sensuality. Ranma, as oblivious as they come to such things, found himself swallowing for some reason, still blinking in surprise.  
  
"Ranma, this is my sister Urd, Goddess of the Past and Love." Belldandy said somewhere beside him.  
  
The named Urd was studying him, and in a way that made he feel slightly uncomfortable for some reason. Not liking the sensation, he found himself mentally switching to defense. That look reminded him too much of those that he'd gotten from more than a few girls he'd known who had considered him their property.  
  
After a leisurely study, the older goddess turned to her sister. Her lips curved up into a skeptical smirk. "So, this is him? Not bad. I've known better, of course, but not bad at all." Her voice matched her appearance, sultry and sensual. Her eyes returned to his, their leaf-green depths glittering with amusement at his discomfort.  
  
That broke whatever tentative hold she had on him. She had managed to insult him twice in the same sentence, making it seem as though she was being complimentary. A few years ago-even a few month ago-it would have confused him. Now, his eyes narrowed as any lingering disorientation disappeared, replaced by irritation. Anger was always a nice thing when you were grasping for a focus. Who did this-this Bimbo think she was? Sure, she was a goddess, he admitted silently. But who cared?  
  
Urd must have caught the thought, for her own green eyes narrowed as well. They glared at each other, neither willing to relent by breaking the stare- off.  
  
Belldandy looked on, seemingly oblivious to any tension. "You can take it from here, sister. Have a nice trip, Ranma-san." She called, slipping her hand easily out of his grip and fading away in a matter of moments.  
  
Ranma had turned to protest, reluctantly breaking eye contact and thus unwillingly scoring a small victory for the harpy in front of him, when a shapely golden hand grabbed his recently abandoned one, and they were off.  
  
"Come on now, little boy. I've haven't time to linger here all day. The sooner we get there, the quicker I can get back to more important matters." She threw a smirk at him over her shoulder, the edges of her gown flapping in his face.  
  
Irritably brushing the cloth away from his eyes, he retorted "What, like having your hair done? I hate to tell you this, lady, but it's too late for that. I've seen mops with better shape." He said smugly. Being a girl part time can really help you know where to get them where it hurts.  
  
Urd glared at him, her eyes starting to glow. Sparks shot off the tips of her hair. Ranma didn't look impressed, returning her now vanished smirk full force.  
  
"Listen up, you brat. We're coming close to where you need to be. Now shut that little mouth of yours so I can concentrate or I'll dump you off somewhere 500 years ago." She hissed back, looking seriously ticked off. If she had been a cat, she would be spitting by now. Ranma shivered at the thought, and fell silent. After a few minutes had passed Urd spoke up again. "Almost there. Hang on to your diapers." Ranma, already set for a fight, opened his mouth and did what he does best. He put his foot in it.  
  
"Like you're one to talk, you freaky-haired, nightgown wearing, bony-kneed tom-!"  
  
The world turned inside out.  
  
**** **** ****  
  
Three people walked down a dusty Tokyo side road, headed back toward the Dojo where two of them resided. The shortest, a spiky-haired boy that looked to be in his early teens, was talking animatedly to the other two, waving his bamboo sword for emphasis.  
  
The tallest, a young man with even spikier hair than the boy, looked profoundly unimpressed by what the other was saying. The occasional thrown in taunt caused the two of them to come to blows more than once.  
  
The third, and middle of the two, had the unfortunate position of being the mediator. It didn't seem to be helping. His fiery red hair ruffled in the breeze, and by the passage of fists and bodies. He was sweat dropping at the others' antics, but really didn't look too worried. Except when he ended up in the middle of a head-butting contest.  
  
"Oroo?!" The redhead exclaimed, dodging yet another attempt by the boy to go through him in order to maim his opponent. "Come now, Sano, Yahiko. We're late enough already. Kaoru-dono is expecting us de gozaru.  
  
The boy reluctantly tore his cinnamon brown eyes away from the stare-off he was having with his taller opponent. It was giving him a crick in his neck anyway. Crossing his arms, he sulked.  
  
"Come on, Kenshin. It's not as though I'm all that eager to be on time for dinner today. When Busu cooks, even the flies stay away." He laughed at his own joke.  
  
"Yeah, Kenshin." Sanosuke said, readily agreeing with someone he had been fighting just moments before. "I'd rather go to the Akabeko for some beef- pot. Tae-san would extend my tab if I told her I'd have to eat some of Jou- chan's cooking instead."  
  
Kenshin rubbed the back of his head. Sure, Kaoru-dono's cooking was . . . not the best, but they shouldn't hurt her feelings by not trying it at all. He opened his mouth to tell them so when he stopped, his eyes losing their look of rueful sheepishness and becoming hard and alert in an instant. His casual posture shifted, and then he was in a ready stance, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. His friends noticed the change and immediately turned serious, warily scanning around them.  
  
"What is it Kenshin?" Sano asked, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of a fight.  
  
Kenshin continued to stay on the alert, though his wariness was rapidly giving way to puzzlement. "I'm not sure." He said tersely. "I just sensed something a moment ago. If feels almost like . . . something is coming."  
  
Then out of nowhere came the sound of a voice lifted in the latter part of a scream, as though the first half of a sentence had been abruptly cut short.  
  
"-BOY!" Any further words died stillborn as the something, or rather someOne, literally dropped out of the sky.  
  
Right on top of Sano.  
  
As the dust cleared, Kenshin and Yahiko got their first good look at the new arrival. He appeared to be a boy in his late teens, thick blue-black hair ruffled, with puffy bangs over his eyes. Some attempt had been made to tame the wild hair by tying it back into a low pigtail.  
  
The boy's clothing was strange, consisting of a red chinese shirt, black pants, and slippers. Coughing up dust, his hands were braced on either side of him in an attempt at balance on his current rather precarious seating arrangement.  
  
Both his feet were firmly planted on the back of Sano's head. The fighter himself was presently exploring the day life of the underground insect population.  
  
The raven-haired boy was cursing up a storm as he reached up to rub dust out of his eyes. He blinked, revealing large eyes that were a deep gray- blue, like a crystalline lake on a misty morning. The newcomer found himself eyeball to eyeball with a glowering, stooped over Yahiko. He took the boy-samurai in with a glance, before glaring up where he'd come. "What did you do that for?!" He yelled, his voice surprisingly low for his youthful appearance. Kenshin and Yahiko followed his gaze, and gaped.  
  
Hovering a good 30 feet above them, well formed hands on her shapely hips, a white-haired, tan-skinned woman glared back at the irate teen. Her clothes were even stranger than his, and left very little to the imagination.  
  
"GET. OFF!!" At that moment, Sano gave a muffled roar and sat up, flinging the boy off of him. Instead of landing flat in the dirt, the black-haired teen flipped in midair, settling neatly to earth in a crouch. Enraged, Sano turned to pound the offender when he noticed his friends were goggling at something, and looked up.  
  
Sanosuke, his anger passing like a summer squall, could only stand there with his mouth hanging open.  
  
"Sano, you're drooling." Kenshin said dryly.  
  
**  
  
Urd ignored them, focusing instead on the target of her wrath. "You deserved it, you ungrateful wretch! NO ONE talks to me that way. I am the Goddess of Love! I am Perfection. I do not, in any way, look BONY!"  
  
"Nuh Uh." Sano, reduced to syllables, heartily agreed.  
  
She continued. "See if I do YOU any more favors, you self-centered, loud- mouthed JERK!" Urd said, her eyes narrowing. Thunder rumbled overhead.  
  
"Yeah, whatever." Ranma replied, standing up and crossing his arms arrogantly. Looking around him more attentively, he blinked. "Is this really it?" He asked dubiously as he took in the rough surroundings and the old style clothing of the three onlookers.  
  
Urd's expression altered, changing to a wicked smirk. Kenshin, more familiar with that expression, instinctively edged back.  
  
"Yes, this is the point in history where you belong . . ." Her grin grew wider.  
  
". . . More or less."  
  
Ranma was immediately suspicious, eyeing her warily. "What do you mean by that, lady?" He demanded. Urd only laughed and waved, tossing a wink Sano's way. She threw some water she got from who-knows-where in the air, creating a shimmering portal through which she disappeared, still laughing.  
  
Ranma shouted, but knew it was useless. Just typical. Now what was he supposed to do? A meaningful clearing of someone's throat brought his attention back to the here and now. *Or the then that's now. * He thought sourly.  
  
Turning, he looked into assessing deep purple eyes that were slightly below the level of his own. His first instinct was to take the defensive, but the feeling of this guy wasn't hostile, only curious. Ranma blinked. *Whoa, this guy's hair is just like . . . *  
  
"Excuse me." Kenshin said politely. "Are you alright?"  
  
Ranma blinked again. He wanted to know if he was alright? What happened to 'who the hell are you?', or 'stop right there!'? No one had really been that concerned if he was OK before.  
  
"Uh, yeah. Sure, I'm fine. I've taken worse than a little fall like that." He said, uncomfortable under that gentle gaze. This was just too weird. One minute he was at the Tendo's saying goodbye to everyone, and the next he was handed over like some trinket to a lady that reminded him of Nabiki gone kinky. Man, what a thought.  
  
Just then, Sano came back to reality and swung around, heading for the source of his recent humiliation. Striding forward, he pulled the punk up by the front of his shirt, glaring at him when he was level with his face, his feet dangling.  
  
"Watch where you're landing, kid." He growled.  
  
Ranma smiled. Now this was a situation that he was familiar with. He was just about to taunt this new opponent when the redhead broke in, his tone mollifying.  
  
"Easy, Sano. I get the feeling that he didn't really have much choice in the matter, de gozaru."  
  
The redhead barely came up to the bandanna guy's chest, but Ranma was immediately lowered back to the ground, albeit grudgingly. Ranma cast an appraising glance the longhaired guy's way. He saw a thin man with red hair, wearing an old and much worn gi and hakama. One of Ranma's eyebrows rose as he caught sight of the hilt of the sword at his side. A real sword, too. So, he was a real live Kenkaku, not a Kendoist.  
  
Yahiko came up, looking wary but curious. "Hey, who are you anyway?" He demanded, straightening to his full height and trying to appear fierce. Tokyo was his territory, so this guy better not be more trouble or he'd answer to the Tokyo Samurai!  
  
Ranma looked at him, and couldn't help but grin crookedly. The kid had spunk, he'd give him that. He liked his fighting spirit.  
  
"The name's . . ." He paused, his eyes thoughtful. He spoke again, slowly. "Well, I guess its just Ranma for now. I'm . . . kinda new to these parts."  
  
"Are you here to challenge Kenshin?!" Yahiko demanded, getting to the meat of the matter. No One showed up out of the blue anymore unless they had a beef with the former hitokiri. (bad I know. Heehee)  
  
Ranma frowned, looking puzzled. "Who's he?" he asked.  
  
The group visibly relaxed. Well, maybe this guy wasn't new trouble after all. He was obviously a fighter, judging by his movements and how he handled himself. So what was that strange arrival about? Who was that woman?  
  
"Sessha wa Himura Kenshin." Kenshin spoke up, breaking the stillness. "Myojin Yahiko, samurai in training!" Yahiko declared proudly. Silence, then Kenshin elbowed the still disgruntled looking Sano. "Huh? Oh. Sagara Sanosuke." He muttered. He was still eyeing Ranma. "So what was with the broad?" he asked bluntly.  
  
"Sano!" Kenshin reproved his friend's rudeness.  
  
Ranma shrugged. "She told me she was the Goddess of the Past and Love. Her sister Belldandy, Goddess of the Present, passed me over to her after I learned that my parents weren't my real parents but some people who lived about 150 years in the past. She said that there's where I belonged and so I'm here. I guess." He shrugged again.  
  
His audience blinked, trying to process what he'd just said. "O-kay." Sano said slowly.  
  
Ranma looked at him, surprised. "You believe me? Usually it takes people a lot longer to accept the weird stuff that happens to me."  
  
"You time-travel often?" Sano asked sarcastically. Yahiko cut in. "With all that goes on around Kenshin, it takes a lot more to startle us." He said.  
  
Ranma looked over at the redhead, who appeared embarrassed. "Whatever." He said dubiously.  
  
Kenshin grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it's kind of a long story de gozaru."  
  
Ranma tilted his head, puzzled anew and having the strangest feeling of deja vu. "It usually is." He agreed.  
  
Suddenly Kenshin realized that they were standing in the middle of the street, having stopped all progress toward the Dojo. He sweated slightly. Kaoru-dono would not be pleased. "Ano, could we perhaps continue this discussion elsewhere? We're supposed to be eating at the moment." Recollection dawned on his friends' faces as they remembered they were late for dinner.  
  
Ranma eyed their nervous faces, but shrugged, his face brightening at the mention of food. "Sure. I got nowhere else ta go right now. I kinda want to search for my birth family, but it can wait a bit."  
  
"Do you know who they are?" Kenshin asked, talking as they began to walk rather quickly toward the Dojo. Looking around, he noticed that their new acquaintance was missing, but soon located him high on a fence, keeping pace with them.  
  
Ranma shook his head. "Not really. All I have to go on is a picture and a letter my . . . adoptive mom gave me. It's from my real mom, and says that I should go looking for my father, but doesn't give me much of a clue who he is. Just someone who was important. It also said not to show them to anyone else." He added, looking almost apologetic as he glanced at the nice man below him.  
  
"Someone important." Kenshin mused. That didn't narrow things down too much, and he wasn't about to ask the lad to go against his mother's wishes. Any more speculating was cut short as he felt a familiar aura, heading toward them fast.  
  
Before he could warn the others, Kaoru rounded the corner. She did not look pleased. "So There you all are!" She exclaimed, waving her bokken threateningly at the sheepish line of males. "I spent all day cooking that dinner and you guys don't even show up to eat it!"  
  
"We're sorry Kaoru-dono." Kenshin said, backing away submissively. "But there was a small delay and we . . ."  
  
"Ah, who would want to eat what you cook anyway, Busu?!" Yahiko cut in stubbornly, ending any chance of calming the situation down. Soon master and pupil were lost in a cloud of flailing limbs and wooden swords.  
  
Kenshin and Sano waited off to the side, the former resignedly and the latter looking bored.  
  
"So, this happen often?" A voice said off to the side. The two looked to see Ranma down from the fence, leaning against it with his arms crossed and one leg up. Kenshin paused, eyeing the boy. Something about him was different. His entire manner had changed. His blue eyes possessed a wary hardness that hadn't been there a minute before. Sano shrugged, oblivious. "Yeah, the brat and Jou-chan are always like this. It's just somethin' you get used to."  
  
"I see." Was Ranma's reply, his eyes narrowing. Kenshin observed him carefully.  
  
The fight ended, leaving a sulking Yahiko clutching his lumped up head. Ignoring the boy's mutterings, a smile of satisfaction lighting up her face, Kaoru walked toward the group with her bokken over her shoulder. She caught sight of Ranma.  
  
"Who's this, Kenshin?" She asked, coming up to the redhead. Kenshin noticed Ranma tense, and spoke carefully. "This is Ranma. We . . . met him on the way here." He explained. Kaoru turned her smile toward him.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Ranma. Are you coming over for dinner?" she asked. She sighed. "You're welcome to come. It's not like one more free- loader will make that much difference."  
  
And that, Kenshin was suddenly very certain, was the exact wrong thing to say.  
  
**  
  
Ranma straightened, his arms crossed arrogantly. "Naw, I think I'll pass. No way am I going to get mixed in THIS again." Turning on his heel, he started to walk back the way they'd come. Kaoru looked startled, while Sano and Yahiko exchanged puzzled glances.  
  
"Go on ahead of me." Kenshin murmured to them, and trotted to catch up to the retreating boy. Something was wrong and he needed to find out what. It seemed very important to him for some reason.  
  
He caught up, and the two walked in silence for a few moments. Finally Ranma stopped, hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched. He avoided looking at Kenshin as he spoke, his gaze still on his feet. "I just spent over a year in a household that just brought me one disaster after another. I was trapped with no way out. I was also engaged to a violent tomboy whose cooking has been banned in every civilized country, and even some places most people have never heard of. I was nothin' but a freeloader who everyone used like their own moneymaker. I got out of that by a miracle, and I ain't going back."  
  
Kenshin listened, his heart twisting at the undertones of pain in the young man's voice. There was nothing he could say. Any excuse of their being different would fall flat.  
  
"Will we be seeing you around sometime?" He asked quietly. Ranma threw him a grateful glance. "I dunno. Maybe." He said. "See ya Himura-san."  
  
Ranma continued on until he disappeared around a corner. Kenshin gazed after him a moment longer, hesitation clear in his stance, before his shoulders drooped and he turned to rejoin his friends, his mood somber.  
  
-------------------  
  
Thanks for all the threats to finally get me this far. We're going to start to get into pre-made clips soon (the last part of this chapter is one). Thanks also to my polite editors. Pointing out mistakes appreciated. I like to do my best. Decided on 's/he', while still using him/her. If it gets too annoying, let me know. Oh, and the 'Sessha' and 'de gozaru' are best left in more knowledgeable hands. Let's just say that Kenshin is most likely using it every time he says 'I' (except in Battousai mode of course :D), and so on. Will use it occasionally, especially to make a point, though. . . . .Lessee, I knew I forgot to apologize for Something. Oh, well. It'll be pointed out, I'm sure. ^_~ 


	10. Fast Food and Second Impressions

Where I Belong  
  
By The Unseen Watcher  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Fast Food and Second Impressions  
  
---------------------------  
  
Ranma wandered around Tokyo. At least, he thought it was Tokyo. A lot had changed in the past century. There had been a few old style buildings in Nerima. The Kuno estate being one of the more extensive ones still surviving in the modern world of skyscrapers and subways. But here, everywhere he looked there were conical-shaped roofs and dirt roads. The people walking on them were relatively sparse, and for the most part walked casually. The part of him that automatically noted things like body language reported that the kimonos of both persuasions were worn comfortably and without any hint of self-consciousness for being dressed in something so out of date to a boy raised in the late 20th century. To them, it was casual wear and didn't rate a second glance unless it was exceptionally fine cloth. Not so his own clothing, which he had already received several strange looks for as he ambled by.  
  
He didn't notice the lingering glances cast him by every woman in the vicinity. He didn't realize that his natural, gliding walk, the way he held his head high was a magnet for female attention. His lithe, muscular body was completed by a thick, blue-black mane of hair and a face that was just starting to move beyond the 'cute' phase and into the 'handsome' category. All in all, his passing rated more than second or even third looks by the citizens of Meiji Tokyo.  
  
But as stated earlier, Ranma was completely oblivious to that aspect of social life. He was too busy taking in the sights, mentally tracing routes along the rooftops, and . . . his stomach grumbled . . . looking for a place to eat!  
  
Two girls passing by in brightly flowered kimonos giggled at the loud noises his stomach was currently making. He patted it sheepishly, looking up at them with a sheepish grin on his face and his hair falling in front of his overcast sapphire eyes. The girls had stopped temporarily, still giggling, a slight blush now touching their cheeks as he smiled at them.  
  
Finally one managed to get up the nerve to speak to the handsome stranger. "Are you hungry, young sir?" She asked. Her companion, considerably less daring, peeked around the first's shoulder from her position behind her.  
  
Ranma rubbed the back of his head ruefully, his grin widening and their blushes correspondingly deepening. "Yeah, I haven't eaten since yesterday. I'm . . . kinda new here. He resisted the urge to scuff the ground with his feet in embarrassment. Seeing so much traditional wear was making him uncomfortable. Such clothing had always meant formal occasions to him, and he felt the urge to be polite.  
  
The second girl piped in. "You could try the Akabeko. It's a great place that has wonderful service and the best Beef Pots in town." She boasted, coloring and ducking behind her friend again when she realized she had his full attention.  
  
Ranma brightened at the description. It sounded great! Eagerly, he asked directions, remembering to thank them with a quick bow before he took off in the way indicated. He left behind two very disappointed young girls and a number of confused people as he wove through the crowd, intent on his goal of food.  
  
The girls could only look after him and sigh. One turned to the other. "He was so cute, don't you think?" The other agreed. "Oh, yes. Strange clothes, but did you /see/ his eyes?" She sighed longingly. They continued to gossip, giggle and blush long after the incident.  
  
**  
  
Meanwhile, Ranma had caught wind of what must be the Akabeko. Even without directions, he was sure his nose would have eventually led him to it. Wonderful smells brought him to a red Noren bedecked doorway. The scent here was nearly overwhelming, and he had to swallow constantly to keep his mouth from openly watering. Looking up, he read the kanji on the sign. "'Aka-be-ko'. This is the place, all right." He went in, parting the sectioned canopy so that it wouldn't block his view.  
  
Stopping in the entranceway, he looked around, taking in the lamp lit corridor and the booths sectioned off for some slight privacy between groups. He found the warm wood tones and hushed atmosphere to be strangely relaxing. There were only a few customers here this time of day, mostly sipping sake and talking quietly. On the table in front of them all he could make out rather a large dish of what must have been the famous Beef Pot he had heard of. At sight of them the smell hit him anew, and he inhaled an appreciative breath. He couldn't wait.  
  
"excuse me sir." A small voice said in the general location of his waist. Nearly jumping out of his shoes at the unexpectedness of someone coming so close to him unawares, he looked down. Warm brown hair and two large dark eyes peered at him over a tray held up in front of the person like a shield.  
  
Ranma blinked, and then realized that the apparition was a young girl. His surprised start had clearly scared her more than she already had been. The tray wavered slightly as she visibly trembled. She looked as though she was going to bolt at any second, resembling nothing more than a wide-eyed fawn.  
  
Ranma gifted her with his warmest smile, the gesture making his brilliant blue eyes seem to shine in the dim light. He didn't want to frighten the shy little thing.  
  
The girl hesitantly responded to the friendliness of the handsome new customer. There was something about him, the way he tilted his head maybe, that reassured he that despite his strong appearance that he was very gentle  
  
The young girl slowly lowered her barricade to reveal a cute face and a timid smile. Pale cheeks were quite noticeably red and her chocolate brown eyes met his only for an instant before darting immediately to the floor.  
  
"would you like me to take you to you seat, sir?" She asked hesitantly, as if expecting him to refuse her offer.  
  
"Yes, thank you." He said, trying to be as polite as possible. The gang back at the Tendo Dojo would have gaped in disbelief at how well mannered he was being.  
  
As he was led to a booth he looked at the hunched figure scurrying just in front of him.  
  
"My name's Ranma, what's yours?" He asked curiously as he sat down in a nice looking spot, his politeness already stretched as far as it could go. He had never been shy about asking questions. Sometimes, protocol just got in the way of answers. He smiled at her timid glance and renewed blush as she ducked her head further behind her tray shield. She was certainly a cute little thing.  
  
He thought for a moment she wouldn't answer, but she seemed to take a hold of all her courage for and whispered "Tsubame."  
  
His smile grew. "Well then, Tsubame-chan, I heard you have great Beef Pots here." Her face reddened even more as she bobbed her head, the tray moving with her.  
  
"Then I'd like whatever some of that. Just bring me what you'd give a bunch of people, alright?" he asked, the idea of all that food nearly making his stomach growl audibly.  
  
Her warm brown eyes widened further at the size of the order, but she simply bobbed in another bow and took off, presumably in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
Ranma chuckled and settled back against the wooden wall separating his booth from the next one over. He'd been lucky to get one with a street view, and absently watched the various foot and carriage traffic that went by. He sighed. This was his first chance in a while to just sit and think. So much had happened at once, it still felt more than a bit unreal. Well, by the looks of it he had plenty of time on his hands to let it sink in. He had no real destination in mind and the lack of purpose was making him twitchy.  
  
Maybe he'd go on another training journey, he mused. It's not like there were any other options open to him. But that would have to wait until he'd asked around a bit. His knowledge of the Meiji Revolution was sketchy at best. He didn't even know where most of the fighting had taken place. When it had been covered in class he had probably either been fighting challengers, escaping the fiancé brigade, or most likely asleep from sheer boredom in the first few minutes of the lecture. Though Pop had lectured him endlessly on past battle tactics, he hadn't bothered to provide many place names. Ranma didn't have the first clue where to look for his birth father. He didn't even have a name or general description to go by.  
  
His gloomy thoughts were cut short and his attention was brought back to his present by a loud argument that had erupted across the way and a few booths down. From the slurred sounds of the voices, at least four men, heavily drunk, were having a bit of a disagreement. Looking for any distraction, Ranma tilted his head slightly to get a better view, arms tucked behind his head as he stretched his senses for hints of any possible trouble.  
  
There were for all right, all swaying so much that they looked like they would fall out of their booth at any second. Their faces were flushed from the alcohol and the argument that seemed to be steadily heating up between them. Ranma didn't bother to listen to what they were saying. His attention was suddenly riveted to their hands as they lurched to their feet, nearly overturning their table in the process as they reached for hidden weapons. The young martial artist tensed as blunt seeming wood was quickly revealed to be concealment as the glitter of metal suddenly shone in the dim lighting.  
  
But of far greater concern to him was when he caught sight of two little feet carrying a large tray precariously, the little waitress trying with obvious fright to inch past them. One wildly swinging arm swept out, and tray and contents went everywhere, punctuated by the girl's terrified shriek of terror and then pain.  
  
Ranma was up and by her side before the last dish shattered. She was covered head to toe by hot juices and food, just starting to sob as the pain hit her, burying her face in her hands at the absence of her tray.  
  
Not that long ago, Ranma would have given her a glance before plowing straight into the cause of the problem. In this case, the drunk jerks who hadn't even noticed what they had done with the exception of the man with the now bruised arm throwing a curse at the injured little waitress.  
  
However, after the point-of-view altering journey with Dr. Tofu, his first priority was checking the young girl for possible injuries. The doctor had been quite firm on that point. Pounding jerks could always be done later if he was the only one around to provide first aid. He had discovered to his surprise that is made him feel rather good to fix something instead of breaking things apart.  
  
Now he crouched down, examining the crying girl and trying to murmur reassuringly to her at the same time. Most of the hot stew had hit her clothing, but she had been splashed on the arm she had raised to protect her face. The skin was already turning an angry red.  
  
There was the sound of running feet. Only a few seconds had actually elapsed since the start of the fight. Ranma looked up from his patient to see a worried-looking brown haired woman hurry up to them. She must be the hostess of the place, Ranma thought as he picked up the huddled little girl carefully, and gave her into the arms of the woman. "You need to get her some different clothes and soak that arm in cold water right away." He said gravely, meeting her startled gaze.  
  
Startled by his firm, almost professional tone she nodded, carrying her shivering charge back toward the curtain draped kitchen door.  
  
As the two left, Ranma was then free to focus on the start of the whole mess. Turning on the balls of his feet, he surveyed the men coldly. "HEY." He said, speaking loudly to be heard over their continuous shouting. "I'm talking to you, you morons!" He yelled when he failed to get any attention.  
  
Heads finally turned at the unexpected interruption. What they saw was a strange boy in outlandish clothing that dared to interrupt their important debate. Those able openly sneered at him. "What do you want, boy?!" One demanded, his eyes trying to focus on the object of his irritation.  
  
Ranma calmly pointed to the mess still decorating floor and booths. "Your stupid fight ruined my dinner. What's worse, you hurt a little kid." His eyes narrowed as he folded his arms over his chest. "Now apologize and pay up. You owe me a meal." He said.  
  
He wasn't really all that surprised by their reaction.  
  
"Get lost, kid. What the hell do we care about some drudge or the mess she made." The one with the bruised arm spoke up, snarling. "It was her own fault for not being more careful. She got in the way of our business." He sneered, trying to lean over the shorter boy menacingly.  
  
Ranma grabbed the front of his haori, using the slight momentum of the man's own move to throw him over into the booths behind him, where he landed with a yelp of pain and a satisfying crash.  
  
"One last chance. Apologize." Ranma said flatly.  
  
The last three blinked at him, then grew angrier. "Get the brat!" Taken with this new idea, his 'friends' drunkenly blundered forward.  
  
The fight wasn't much. Four drunken men of moderate to mediocre skill against a martial artist trained hard all his life by choices and circumstance. Ranma wasted no more breath on them. The first man had managed to get to his feet and Ranma once again grabbed him by the collar, using him as leverage as he swung a kick at the head of the first in line of the three, putting the weight of his body behind the move. Letting go mid-swing he twisted in the air, landing on one foot on their table, scattering discarded sake bottles in the process. Crouching , he took out the other two on either side with both fists, sending them out cold to the floor. Pivoting, he turned to the initial guy whose brain still hadn't caught up to recent events and drove his forehead into his.  
  
The man's head snapped back and his eyes crossed, hitting the floor just moments behind his three companions. The fight had taken less than three seconds from start to finish.  
  
Ranma hopped off the table, straightening his shirt and dusting off his hands. He looked up as the hostess returned, looking around her in wide- eyed astonishment. Which was quite an accomplishment since her eyes appeared to be closed. The aura of gentle helpfulness about her reminded Ranma a bit of Kasumi.  
  
Ranma suddenly realized that he had made the mess worse. Taking in the shattered dishes and groaning bodies he smiled sheepishly, putting an arm behind his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about this." He said. He indicated his former opponents. "You can take the cost for any damages out of them."  
  
The hostess looked around and agreed. "I suppose you're right." She said in a strangely lilting voice, covering a slight smile with her hand. Then she seemed to remember herself and looked at him seriously. "I came to ask how long she should keep her arm under water, sir." She said, speaking of the departed waitress.  
  
"About 5-10 minutes. Longer if it still burns." Ranma replied. "And the name's Ranma. I feel kind of funny with you calling me 'sir'." He said, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
She nodded, the small smile returning. "Okay, Ranma-san. Thank you for your kind help. I'm for the loss of your lunch."  
  
Ranma waved away the apology. "S'okay. I'm used to not being able to get through a meal in peace." He smiled wryly, then looked at her. "So, who are you?"  
  
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. How rude of me!" She explained, quickly kneeling and bowing formally. "I am Tae, the owner of this restaurant." At that moment two teenage girls in waitress uniforms came up, ready with cleaning supplies to take care of the mess. They kept their eyes lowered, though they couldn't help but sneak glances at the handsome boy as their boss got to her feet and invited Ranma to come to the kitchen with her. He agreed, stepping past the curtain and greeting Tsubame as he caught sight of her in a corner with her hand in a bucket of water and a dressed in a fresh kimono. Those kitchen staff not completely occupied by tasks hovered around her in concern.  
  
Ranma went up to her and squatted down to her eye level. "Hey, how you doing?" He asked gently. She didn't look up, but managed a small "ok".  
  
Ranma pushed back his wariness of the cold water as he carefully lifted her arm partway out of the water. Though still slightly red, he could see no blistering and sighed in relief. She probably wouldn't get an infection then. He reassured her of this as he lowered her arm again.  
  
Standing up, the onlookers parted before him. There was nothing more he could do there. He was still hungry but it would have to wait. Someone calling his name stopped him before he reached the back door leading out into a small yard.  
  
"Ranma-san!" Tae said, quickly walking to him. "I want to thank you again for your help. Is there any way we can repay you for your help?" She asked anxiously. Ranma opened his mouth to decline when a loud rumble sounded from his stomach. His mouth closed in embarrassment amidst giggles from the staff. Tae smiled. "Well I believe we owe you a meal at least." She said, trying not to laugh along with the rest of them.  
  
Ranma was seriously tempted. A free meal sounded great! He was leaning forward to eagerly accept when he stopped himself. No, he reminded himself firmly. No more freeloading for him. He'd earn what he had. Digging into his pockets, he held up the loose yen he found there. "I'd rather pay for my food, thanks." He said quietly.  
  
Tae looked down at the coins, her brows knitted in confusion. "What's that?" She asked.  
  
Ranma blinked in stupefication. Didn't she know what money looked like?!  
  
Then the answer came to him and he mentally smacked himself. Of course the yen he had wouldn't be good here. He was over one hundred years before it had even been made! Embarrassed anew, he dropped his hand.  
  
"How about if I work for my food then?" He asked carefully. He felt like he had to be careful or he would say or do something stupid again. "I can do lots of stuff. I'm good at cleanin' and cookin' and when I deliver takeout you can be sure it arrives hot. . .!" He said confidently. He trailed off at the renewed look of confusion on her face. What had he done now?  
  
"Take out? Take out what?" She asked, completely puzzled now. For a nice young man, he certainly had some strange quirks.  
  
Ranma stared back in an equal amount of surprise. They didn't know what takeout was? He looked around, noting all the blank looks he was getting. He suddenly grinned.  
  
"Takeout is when you have someone deliver your food to their homes, so they don't have to come all the way here." He explained. It must not have been used much yet in this time.  
  
Tae thought the idea over, finding it more than a little intriguing. Think of all the customers they could get! But then she shook her head. "It wouldn't work." She said regretfully. "It would be far too cold by the time it got to them."  
  
Ranma grinned. "Just leave it to me."  
  
**  
  
Yahiko walked into the Akabeko a few days later. Busu had been keeping him busy lately, so he hadn't had the chance to come see Tsubame and help out. Walking into the kitchen, he was startled by the noise that hit him. Everyone was talking excitedly and bustling about. Grabbing the sleeve of the nearest waitress, he demanded to know what was going on.  
  
"Oh, hi Yahiko-kun. I can't stop now, I have to get this order of take-out ready to go before he comes back!" the young woman said, flushing slightly much to Yahiko's bewilderment. "Who comes back?" he asked.  
  
"The new employee- whoops, gotta go!" she said, speeding off and leaving Yahiko more bewildered than before. Spotting a familiar face, he called out "Tae!" and managed to make his way to her. His mouth was open to ask just what was going on when all heads turned toward the back entrance.  
  
"I'm back!" The dark haired youth in the doorway called, his blue eyes sweeping over them.  
  
Yahiko gaped. "YOU!" He exclaimed. Ranma glanced at him. "Hey, Yahiko right? Nice to see you. Bye!" He called, taking a rectangular box from a worshipful looking young waitress as he darted out the door he had entered just a short while before.  
  
Yahiko blinked, then scowled. He hated being kept out of the loop. Turning to Tae, he demanded to know what was happening. She smiled happily, explaining the delivery idea that was starting to catch on throughout the city.  
  
Yahiko was suspicious. For a new guy, he sure was popular. He only half- listened as Tae bubbled on about how great he was, abruptly coming back to attention at the mention of the incident with Tsubame.  
  
"Tsubame!" He exclaimed, all else forgotten as he darted away to find his injured friend.  
  
**  
  
Kenshin, Kaoru and Sanosuke were headed to the Akabeko for lunch. Kenshin had suggested it, hoping it would help bring Kaoru out the slight melancholy mood she had been in of late. They encountered Megumi in the marketplace. She and Sano exchanged insults, and caused Kaoru to flush in rage with her attention toward Kenshin. All basically normal. When the preliminary teasing was finally taken care of, she asked them where they were going. When Kaoru stiffly informed her she smiled.  
  
"What a coincidence, I was heading that way myself. I'll go with you." She purred, sidling closer to a sweat dropping Kenshin as they walked, pretending not to notice the glare Kaoru sent her way. Kaoru's fists tightened as she walked along in her kimono. She wished now that she hadn't left her bokken behind at the Dojo.  
  
Kenshin tried to diffuse the tension he could practically touch building around them. "Ano, were you going there for lunch too Megumi-dono?" He asked politely.  
  
Megumi shook her head, her predatory look fading to be replaced by her professional one. "No, I'm going to check up on a patient of mine. Tsubame-chan got burned three days ago, and I want to make sure that she's healing well."  
  
Kenshin smiled. Most doctors would have made a patient come to them, but Megumi knew just how hesitant Tsubame was to travel an distance from the relatively safe confines of the Akabeko. Megumi-dono was a good person.  
  
Megumi caught the look and smiled back, a rare real smile. It was amazing how appreciated Kenshin could make anyone feel.  
  
Kaoru grumbled, but latched onto the what was important in the exchange. "What happened? How bad was it?" She asked, jealous possessiveness shoved into the background behind her concern for a friend.  
  
"She's fine." Megumi replied, teasing forgotten as she looked at her younger friend. "Someone there knew what they were doing so it didn't become more serious."  
  
Kenshin nodded. "Good."  
  
They finally got to the Akabeko, all but Megumi who continued on into the kitchen were seated and ordered the usual. While they waited, Tae came up to their table, smiling at sight of her friends and most frequent customers.  
  
"Tae-san." Kaoru greeted her, smiling at the older woman. "How is everything going here?"  
  
"Oh, it's great!" Tae replied enthusiastically. "We had a fight in here a few days ago, but other than that business has never been better! Business has really gone up since we started our delivery service."  
  
"'Delivery service'? What are you talking about, Tae?" Kaoru asked, while Kenshin and Sano exchanged glances at new of a fight.  
  
Tae beamed. "We have this new employee that came up with the great idea of delivering food to people's homes hot and ready! I may have to hire more cooks at this rate!" She explained happily. "I didn't think it would work, but somehow that boy can even make it to the other side of the city without a drop being spilled and still warm!"  
  
They listened with varied reactions as she continued to enthusiastically tell them about the increase in business. Kaoru speculated on trying out this 'Take-out' herself, while Sano grinned over the idea of having his food brought to him. Megumi soon joined the discussion after pronouncing Tsubame nearly healed.  
  
Kenshin was silent, listening to everything. He remained thoughtful the rest of the week. When Yahiko told him what he had seen, Kenshin quietly advised him not to tell Kaoru yet. He had the beginnings of an idea forming. Yahiko listened and nodded, willing to go along with whatever Kenshin planned.  
  
When Kaoru commented that it was about time to visit the Akabeko again, Yahiko innocently piped up that they should try take out. Kaoru agreed, not noticing her student and houseguest exchanging glances.  
  
**  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
I know. Takeout was probably invented when a cavewoman walked out of a cave and handed some food to another the next cave over, but WHO CARES!! Hee hee. Historical accuracy must not get in the way of having fun!  
  
*whimpering* I'm mean! I'm bad! I have a procrastination streak a mile wide!  
  
Be warned, I'm not quite finished with this chapter left (not too much left though). Just to further stun those who've given me up for dead, we're about to run into some pre-written clips! (aka scenes I wrote ages ago that I have to connect together to make a story). Also have to write the next SIC chapter before /they/ murder me too. Forgive any errors. I haven't edited this yet. Also discovered the wonderful -//- for emphasis. A lot less confusing than capitalizing the first letter in the middle of a sentence! Oh, well. Hope you like it. 


End file.
